26 March 2024
SEED
Innovations Limited
("SEED"
or the "Company")
Investee
Company Update: Clean Food Group
Clean
Food Group Secures £2.5m Investment from Clean Growth
Fund
SEED Innovations Ltd, the AIM-quoted
company investment company providing shareholders with exposure to
early-stage health, wellness and medical cannabis
companies, to which,
in normal circumstances, they have limited access
to, is pleased to note an announcement from its investee company Clean Food
Group Ltd ("Clean Food Group" or "CFG"), a UK-based food-tech
business delivering sustainable oils and fats solutions to the
world's food and cosmetics manufacturers.
CFG has successfully raised
approximately £2.5 million
which will be used to accelerate the commercialisation of Clean
Food Group's sustainable oils and fats technology. The £2.5 million
funding originated from the Clean Growth Fund, a venture capital
fund dedicated to climate initiatives.
This latest raise is at the same
price of £0.165 (16.5 pence) per share as the previous funding
round announced on 14th August 2023. As such the carrying
value of SEED's investment in CFG remains unchanged at
approximately £1.2 million as reported then and reflected in the
Company's Interim Results as at 30 September 2023 (as announced 22
November 2023). The current raise is by way of preference shares
and SEED has taken up its option to convert its 1.3 million
ordinary shares issued at the last raise in August 2023 to the same
preference share class.
SEED owns 7,161,336 shares in CFG
representing 4.6% of CFG on a fully diluted
basis.
Commenting on the announcement, Ed McDermott, CEO of Seed
said: "I am pleased to see that CFG
has successfully secured approximately £2.5 million through its
partnership with Clean Growth Fund, despite the general challenging
market conditions. This marks a significant milestone in CFG's
journey towards creating a more sustainable food system, enabling
the scaling up of the development and commercialisation of its
innovative fats and oils technology through 2025. SEED is thrilled
to continue our support for CFG and eagerly anticipates its
progress in the future."
The following announcement is set
out without material changes or adjustments and the announcement in
full can be accessed from the following link:
https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/uk-food-tech-business-clean-food-group-announces-2-5m-funding-from-clean-growth-fund-302098417.html
UK food-tech business Clean
Food Group announces £2.5m funding from Clean Growth
Fund
·
£13m of funding raised to date to develop
Company's sustainable oils and fats technology
·
Strong capital position to accelerate to
commercial launch in 2025
·
Clean Growth Fund joins investors like Agronomics,
Alianza Team, Doehler Group and SEED Innovations Ltd. to reduce the
threat of climate change and create a healthier and more
sustainable global food system
[LONDON, 26 March 2024] Pioneering
UK-based bio-tech business Clean Food Group has announced a further
£2.5 million in funding from Clean Growth Fund, a climate-specific
UK venture capital fund, providing UK cleantech entrepreneurs with
the expertise and capital they need to reduce carbon emissions and
tackle the climate crisis.
The funding will be used to
accelerate the commercialisation of Clean Food Group's sustainable
oils and fats technology. The proprietary technology platform uses
proven, scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology and
utilises food waste as its food source to deliver sustainable
alternatives to traditional oil and fat
ingredients.
Today, food production accounts for
25% of global greenhouse emissions, with high yield monocultures
responsible for the increasing levels of diseases, deforestation
and land exhaustion. Food waste, a nutrient source not currently
recycled back into the food ecosystem, represents 30% of global
food production. Vegetable oils such as palm and soy are two of the
largest drivers of deforestation; combined they make up 20% of
global deforestation and as sector oils and fats make up around 7%
of total global greenhouse gases.
Clean Food Group's go-to-market
product is an equivalent to high oleic palm oil, supported by an
externally validated LCA (life-cycle assessment) which demonstrates
it delivers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases when compared with
traditional palm oil. Clean Food Group's oil has been designed as a
drop-in ingredient that can be substituted in a number of
consumables, including baked goods, confectionery and cosmetics
applications.
Investment into Clean Food Group to
date has come from Agronomics, a leading listed investment company
focused on Cellular Agriculture, international industrial food
specialists Alianza Team and Doehler Group, and SEED Innovations
Ltd., an AIM-listed fund focused on investments in global health
opportunities.
Alex Neves, CEO and Co-founder said:
"The capital raised with Clean Growth Fund will
allow us to accelerate the scale-up of our technology platform
while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways, with a
fully funded commercialisation plan in place well into 2025. We are
delighted to be working with the Clean Growth Fund team, led by
Beverley Gower-Jones, who is equally passionate about accelerating
innovation to help address climate change and to create a
healthier, more sustainable, global food system."
Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Founder and Managing Partner of
Clean Growth Fund said: "Clean Food
Group has an impressive team with a broad set of skills, and who
established several significant industrial partnerships. Backed by
a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his team are well placed to
commercialise the manufacture of palm oil substitutes and therefore
reduce the reliance the food industry has on the production of palm
oil, an industry which is one of the main drivers of deforestation
and a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions. We are very
pleased to support CFG's development and growth."
End
of CFG's announcement
- Ends -
For further information on the
Company please visit: www.seedinnovations.co
or contact:
Ed McDermott
Lance de Jersey
|
SEED Innovations
Ltd
|
E: info@seedinnovations.co
|
James Biddle
Roland Cornish
|
Beaumont Cornish Limited,
Nomad
|
T: (0)20 7628 3396
|
Isabella Pierre
Damon Heath
|
Shard Capital Partners
LLP
Broker
|
T: (0)20 7186 9927
|
Ana Ribeiro
Isabel de Salis
Isabelle Morris
|
St Brides Partners
Ltd,
Financial PR
|
E: info@stbridespartners.co.uk
|
Notes
Seed Innovations Ltd
SEED Innovations is an AIM quoted
investment company focused primarily on disruptive high growth life
sciences and technology businesses particularly within the medical
cannabis arena. The Company's strategy is to identify early-stage
opportunities that have an upcoming investment catalyst and grow
its portfolio in terms of value whilst limiting the number of
investee companies to a level where relevant time can be devoted to
each.
About Clean Food Group
Clean Food Group is a UK-based food-tech
business delivering sustainable oils and fats solutions to the
world's food and cosmetics manufacturers, with the mission to
deliver scalable, healthier, competitively priced ingredients that
have a positive impact on the economic, environmental, and social
health of the planet.
Clean Food Group is founded by a team with key
experience in growing bio-tech, food industry and retail businesses
supported by established venture capital and family office
investors with a track record supporting fast-growth start-up
companies in highly regulated industries. Clean Food Group's
proprietary technology platform has been developed as a result of 8
years pioneering research by Professor Chris Chuck, technical lead
at Clean Food Group and the University of Bath.