Good Dog Food raises investment from Pets at Home

Agronomics Limited

22 June 2023

 

22 June 2023

Agronomics Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Good Dog Food raises investment from Pets at Home

Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Good Dog Food Limited ("GDF") will partner with the UK's leading pet retailer, Pets at Home, to help transform the industry by using cultivated meat to create dog food that is sustainable, nutritious, cruelty and antibiotic-free.

Pets at Home contributed to Good Dog Food's £3.6 million seed round alongside Agronomics £1 million investment, as announced on 4 May 2023. Other notable investors included Siddhi Capital, a prominent and highly respected investor in innovative food products and technologies, together with a number of private individuals including Jim Mellon, Chairman of GDF and Executive Director at Agronomics.

GDF aims to transform the pet food industry with cultivated meat. By partnering with Pets at Home, the Company will utilise the retailer's expertise and industry-leading knowledge of the pet food sector as it develops a cultivated meat alternative that will be sustainable, nutritious, cruelty and antibiotic-free. As the UK's leading retailer of pet food products, the Company will work with GDF to help to launch and scale up the distribution of its sustainable and ethical products to a growing UK and global audience once available.

Meat provides essential nutrients for companion animals, however, when produced from livestock or fish, it is a major driver of climate change and often results in the overexploitation of natural resources. Food for companion animals accounts for almost a quarter of meat produced in the US, and in the US alone it is estimated dog and cat food is responsible for 65 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent methane and nitrous oxide.

GDF is focused on developing cultivated pet food, with the goal of creating a novel range of products from ingredients that should appeal to pet owners who value sustainable, slaughter-free, antibiotic-free, high quality nutritious food for their pets. Agronomics first launched GDF in March 2022, investing £150,000 in the Founder's round. Subject to audit, Agronomics will be carrying this investment at £4.96 million, including an unrealised gain of £3.81 million.

Owen Ensor, CEO of Good Dog Food, said:

"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Pets at Home. As the UK's leading pet retailer, they have deep expertise and knowledge of the UK pet market and could be instrumental in helping us transform food for our pets. With them, we believe we can launch a product that is not only healthy and delicious but also truly sustainable."

Lisa Miao, Chief Operating Officer Retail at Pets at Home, said,

"Our values underpin everything we do, and one of those core values is our focus on the planet and how we make pet care more environmentally sustainable, while ensuring nutritional needs are met in an affordable way. It is important to be part of that commitment to sustainability, to test and learn for the future and to help drive change. If we can replace some of the meat and fish used globally in pet food with a more sustainable alternative, that would be a real step change or the industry."

Jim Mellon, Executive Director at Agronomics, said:

"By creating sustainable, ethical products from cells, Good Dog Food can replace the 20% of meat and fish used across the world for use in pet food. Today's announcement is a significant milestone and provides the next step towards the production of cultivated pet food products to a growing mass market, ensuring every dog owner has access to ethically sustainable alternatives for their beloved canines."

About Good Dog Food

Good Dog Food aims to develop the first ever cultivated meat products for the £80 billion pet food industry. They will create meat that is truly healthy, ethical, and sustainable whilst being free from antibiotics and steroids. Given the more straightforward regulation for pet food, Good Dog Food aims to commercialise product faster than cultivated meat for human food. To date they have removed all animal components from their manufacturing process, have developed prototype products, and built relationships with leading pet food manufacturers and retailers. Find out more at www.gooddogfood.com.

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies 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 and be fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/.

Agronomics Limited	Beaumont Cornish Limited	Canaccord Genuity Limited	Cenkos Securities Plc	Peterhouse Capital Limited	SEC Newgate
The Company	Nomad	Joint Broker	Joint Broker	Joint Broker	Financial Communications
Richard Reed Denham Eke	Roland Cornish James Biddle	Andrew Potts Harry Rees Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)	Giles Balleny Michael Johnson	Lucy Williams Charles Goodfellow	Bob Huxford George Esmond
[phone] [e-mail]	[phone]	[phone]	[phone]	[phone]	Agronomics@sec Newgate .co.uk

 

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