Agronomics Limited has announced that its portfolio company, Solar Foods Oy, has raised €8 million in a Series B financing round. The funding was carried out through Finnish-based investment organizer Springvest Oyj, with participation from existing investors Happiness Capital, Lifeline Ventures, VTT Ventures, and Fazer. The funds will be used to continue building and ramping up production of Solar Foods' single cell protein, SoleinTM. Since Agronomics' initial investment in Solar Foods, significant progress has been made, including a substantial increase in productivity, regulatory approval in Singapore, and submission of a dossier for approval in the European Union. Solar Foods also received €34 million in grant funding in December 2022 to support the construction of its first commercial-scale facility, Factory 01, which is expected to be operational in the first half of 2024.
Agronomics has invested a total of €6 million in Solar Foods, with €3 million in the Series A round in September 2020 and €3 million in the form of a pre-Series B Convertible Promissory Note in October 2021. The company expects to convert the Convertible Promissory Note following the closing of the private placement.
Solar Foods produces protein using carbon dioxide and electricity, liberating global protein production from the constraints of traditional agriculture. SoleinTM is a microbial protein-rich powder that contains all the essential amino acids. It is produced using a bioprocess where microbes are fed with gases, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen, together with small amounts of nutrients. This production method has the potential to transform the sustainability, availability, and transparency of food production.
Agronomics is a leading listed venture capital firm focused on cellular agriculture. The company has a portfolio of over 20 holdings in the sector and seeks to secure minority stakes in companies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials. Cellular agriculture is the production of agricultural products directly from cells, rather than raising animals or growing crops conventionally. This disruptive technology offers solutions to improve sustainability, address human health, animal welfare, and environmental damage.
The funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating, with projections that cultivated meat's market share will reach 35% by 2040. The Good Food Institute estimates that a US $1.8 trillion investment is needed to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology.