Award of Grant Funding

Light Science Tech. Holdings PLC

21 September 2023

 

Light Science Technologies Holdings plc

("LSTH", the "Company" or the "Group")

Award of Grant Funding

Funded by DEFRA & UKRI, targeting reduced environmental damage from potato production

Light Science Technologies Holdings plc (AIM: LST), the controlled environment agriculture ("CEA") technology and contract electronics manufacturing ("CEM") group, announces that it is participating in a 36-month £1.74m collaboration, funded by The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ("Defra") and the UK Research and Innovation ("UKRI") Transforming Food Production Challenge. LSTH will receive a grant of £209,506 over the 36-month programme.

The project, Transformative Reduced Input Potatoes ("TRIP"), consortium includes a range of commercial potato growers across England - from Lincolnshire to Cornwall - and includes farms owned and managed by Dyson Farming Ltd ("Dyson Farming"). It will test out a range of regenerative cultivation methods that could reduce the environmental damage caused by producing potatoes.

As part of the collaboration the Company will add Nitrous Oxide sensing capabilities to its existing SensorGROW product and supply sensors to various growing sites, phased to be delivered in Q2 2024.

Over the 36-month period TRIP will investigate new breeds of disease resistant potato, new nutrient treatments for use on leaves instead of soil, reduced tillage methods including use of mulches as a growing medium and new methods to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from farmers' fields.

Dyson Farming, The James Hutton Institute, Emerald Research, The Sarvari Research Trust and scientists from Bangor University's School of Environmental and Natural Science and Biocomposites Centre will all collaborate with LSTH on the project.

Dr Christine Jones, Dyson Farming, commented: "Many farmers are seeking ways of producing their crops more sustainably but the particular requirements for growing a potato crop can make it a challenge to incorporate potatoes into a sustainable rotation. Outcomes from the TRIP project can be expected to offer growers a range of methods to reduce inputs to, and impact from, potato crops. Collaboration between the TRIP partners provides an exciting opportunity to bring together different areas of development and to turn science into practice for potato growers."

Simon Deacon, Chief Executive Officer of LSTH, commented: "We are delighted to be involved in such a strong consortium and grateful for the support of UKRI and Defra. This will be an exciting opportunity to take SensorGROW from indoor to outdoor growing, while enabling the Company to forge new relationships within the research, policy, and commercial growing pools."

For additional information please contact:

Light Science Technologies Holdings plc	www.lightsciencetechnologiesholdings.com
Simon Deacon, Chief Executive Officer Jim Snooks, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hempsall, Chief Operating Officer	via Walbrook PR
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
Ritchie Balmer / James Harris / Rob Patrick
Oberon Capital (Broker)
Mike Seabrook / Nick Lovering	Tel: [phone]
Walbrook PR Ltd (Media & Investor Relations)	Tel: [phone] or [e-mail]
Nick Rome / Paul McManus

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, as amended.

About Light Science Technologies Holdings plc (www.lightsciencetechnologiesholdings.com)

Light Science Technologies Holdings plc is the holding company of the Group's controlled environment agriculture ("CEA") division, comprising Light Science Technologies Ltd ("Light Science Technologies") and Tomtech (UK) Limited ("Tomtech"), alongside its contract electronics manufacturing ("CEM") division, UK Circuits and Electronics Solutions Limited ("UK Circuits").

Controlled Environment Agriculture

Light Science Technologies was founded in 2019 and is the Company's grow lights and sensor technology business, providing bespoke recipes and technologies tailored to customers' needs - with key targets including indoor, vertical, glasshouses, polytunnels and medicinal farming markets. The all-in-one CEA solution will include analysing customers' crop growing requirements to provide bespoke, low-energy and sustainable equipment. Tomtech, which was acquired in September 2023, further broadened the Group's portfolio with its control systems usable across multiple crops in glasshouses and other horticultural environments. Additionally, it generates long-term recurring revenues via maintenance, servicing, and software contracts.

Market drivers include food and water shortages in many parts of the world; growing global population; UK and other government policy encouraging sustainable and efficient growth methods; increased scrutiny of the effect of food production on climate change and the continuing transition away from processed foods. 

sensorGROW

sensorGROW was launched in June 2022 and its technology will enable farmers to monitor the following key air zone growing factors in real-time: carbon dioxide levels, humidity, light, oxygen - and in the future: air speed, plant disease, soil, temperature and water pH levels. By monitoring these key growing factors, farmers can save money through better management of resources: water, nutrients, fertilisers and energy - while increasing yields and producing healthier crops.

nurturGROW

nurturGROW is a sustainable grow lighting product range, offering an innovative, high-performance and cost-effective solution for indoor farming, covering greenhouses, vertical farming, polytunnels and medicinal plants.

Created with four core component parts, the nurturGROW range is made of high quality, durable materials to give growers the ideal balance between strength and optimal performance, minimising the amount of materials needed to drastically cut down on waste and reduce carbon footprint.

Tomtech

Tomtech was established in 1986 as a sole trader and incorporated as Tomtech (UK) Limited in 2011. Since then, it has become a UK leader in control systems for commercial greenhouses and polytunnels. Since launching its first product over 35 years ago, it has been at the forefront of the sector, providing innovative and effective products and solutions.

It now provides comprehensive solutions to customers helping them create, monitor and maintain an optimised cultivating environment within glasshouses and other horticultural spaces. Its sensors monitor temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide, pH, nutrients and more - whilst its intelligent systems help control irrigation, fertigation, dosing, ventilation, light and more.

Its highly adaptive systems are used throughout the UK and Ireland to optimise growing conditions for multiple types of crops grown within commercial greenhouses and other horticultural environments.

Contract Electronics Manufacturing

UK Circuits is the Company's CEM focussed division, profit making with strong revenues. The Group designs, procures, and manufactures high-quality CEM products, specialising in Printed Circuit Boards, which are used in a range of sectors including audio, automotive, electronics, gas detection, lighting, pest control, telecommunications and, more recently, the CEA market.

 

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