REG - Agronomics Limited - Agronomics Follow-on Investment in CellX

AgronomicsAnnouncement

06/05/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 5145K  Agronomics Limited  06 May 2022

6th May 2022

Agronomics Limited (https://agronomics.im/)

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

 

Agronomics Follow-on Investment in CellX

 

Agronomics (AIM:ANIC), the leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce it has invested a further US$ 2
million into Chinese cultivated meat company CellX Limited ("CellX"),
subscribing for 857,363 preferred shares (the "Subscription"). CellX is a
leading cultivated meat company based in Shanghai. Agronomics will have a
5.14% equity ownership in CellX, on a fully diluted basis. The Subscription
will be made using cash from the Company's own resources.

 

Agronomics first invested in CellX in December 2020, with a US$ 50,000
investment in the form of a SAFE ("Simple Agreement for Future Equity"). This
SAFE converted to 230,681 preferred shares as stated in the 28th May 2021
announcement
(https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/ANIC/announces-the-conversion-of-cellx-safe/14995460?showDisclaimer=true&lang=en)
. Subject to audit, in aggregate, Agronomics will now carry the combined
position in its accounts at a book value of US$ 2,538,117, including an
unrealised gain on cost of US$ 488,117, representing an internal rate of
return of 458% and a multiple on invested capital  of 10.76 of the initial
US$ 50,000 investment. The CellX position in the Agronomics portfolio will
represent approximately 1.40% of last reported Net Asset Value.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part
of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

 

About CellX (https://cellx.tech/)

CellX is a leading cellular agriculture start-up located in Shanghai, the
biotech and innovation hub in China. CellX started with domestic Chinese pig
breed and has quickly expanded to beef and poultry. With a team of thirty,
CellX is working to bring cultivated meat products to consumers in China and
around the world. The company is co-founded by two impact entrepreneurs,
Ziliang Yang and Ran Liu, and two top scientists, Dr Ning Xiang and Dr Binlu
Huang. The team has made significant progress since their founding in 2020,
and they have now moved into the next phase of development - scaling up and
reducing cost. CellX is collaborating with top universities and leading
companies in China and around the world to advance the research and
development of cultivated meat, and the company is accelerating market launch
and cultivated meat approval as a key player in the APAC region. More
information at www.cellx.cn (https://www.cellx.cn)

About Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/)

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a
portfolio of 21 companies at the Pre-Seed to Series C stage in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived
from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as
addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available
at https://agronomics.im/
(https://clicktime.symantec.com/368cVqxx3R6vTFuHpf6MSE66Gi?u=https%3A%2F%2Fagronomics.im%2F)
.

 

About Cellular Agriculture

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter, or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

 

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃

 

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food
Institute's estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in
order to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means
that we are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out
manufacturing facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is
accelerating, however still less than US$ 2 billion has been invested
worldwide since the industry's inception in 2016.

 

For further information please contact:

 Agronomics                                       Beaumont              Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital

 Limited                                          Cornish Limited       Securities Plc        Limited               TB Cardew
 The Company                                      Nomad                 Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed                                     Roland Cornish        Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke                                       James Biddle          Michael Johnson       Charles Goodfellow    Charlotte Anderson
 +44 (0) 1624 639396                              +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  +44 (0) 20 7930 0777

 info@agronomics.im (mailto:info@agronomics.im)                                                                     +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                                                    agronomics@tbcardew.com (mailto:agronomics@tbcardew.com)

 

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