Meatable completes EUR35M Series B Financing Round
8 August 2023
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Meatable Announces Successful €35 Million Series B Financing Round
Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce it has invested €4 million (the "Subscription") as part of Meatable's €35 million Series B financing round. The funding round was co-led alongside New Agrarian Company Limited ("New Agrarian").
Agronomics first invested €2 million in Meatable B.V. ("Meatable") in December 2019, followed by an additional €1 million in June 2020, €2 million in February 2021 and €195k via a secondary transaction in May 2021. Subject to audit, Agronomics' investments, inclusive of the Subscription, will be carried at €14.2 million, including an unrealised gain of €5.0 million and represents a gross IRR of 22.31%. Agronomics now holds an equity stake of 6.7% in Meatable, with the position accounting for approximately 9% of Agronomics' 30 June 2023 Net Asset Value (as adjusted for this investment).
The successful funding round was led by Agronomics and New Agrarian and saw the Dutch impact fund, Invest-NL, join as a new investor, contributing $17 million, alongside renewed support from existing investors, including BlueYard, Bridford, MilkyWay, DSM Venturing and Taavet Hinrikus (chairman and founder of Wise).
The funding will be used to further scale Meatable's production processes and accelerate its commercial programme in target markets to deliver cultivated meat products that are price competitive with traditional meat. Starting in Singapore, Meatable's sausages and pork dumpling products will be available in selected restaurants and retailers from 2024. It is also establishing a presence in the United States and target European countries. These steps ensure Meatable can bring to life its mission to make cultivated meat available for everyone, without compromising on taste or harming animals, people or the planet.
Innovative technology to produce cultivated meat at scale
Consumer demand for meat continues to grow across the world, but this comes at a huge cost to the planet. Cultivated meat is part of the solution - a study by independent research company CE Delft found that cultivated meat can reduce the footprint of conventional beef by up to 92% for greenhouse gas emissions and 95% for land use. Investors have poured nearly US$ 900 million into the sector in 2022 alone, with the Netherlands announcing the world's largest ever-public investment into cellular agriculture last year.
To make its cultivated pork, Meatable takes one sample of cells from an animal without harming it and replicates the natural growth process of the cells using its patented opti-ox™ technology combined with pluripotent stem cells. This technology makes it possible for Meatable to produce real muscle and fat cells in only eight days, 30 times faster than the time it takes to rear a pig for pork on the farm. Meatable has all processes in place to be able to scale cultivated meat production affordably and provide a genuine solution to this global, pressing problem.
Taking its revolutionary cultivated meat process global
To truly make an impact, cultivated meat needs to be widely available. To address this demand, Meatable is launching its first commercial products in Singapore starting in 2024, and is currently partnering with the relevant authorities to secure regulatory approval. Meatable has already successfully held its first external tasting events in Singapore earlier in 2023, following approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). In addition, it has started production of its products on the ground together with Esco Aster Pye Ltd, the first and only commercially licensed cultivated meat manufacturer in Singapore, and has begun co-development of its product range with plant-based butcher Love Handle SC.
Meatable is also working to expand its operations into the United States and across Europe. Recent regulatory developments have boosted confidence in the industry, with the USA approving two cultivated meat companies to start selling their products. Meanwhile, the Netherlands recently became the first European country to officially give the green light for companies to organise tastings.
Jim Mellon, co-founder of Agronomics, said:
"Meatable is one of the leading companies helping to transform the cultivated meat industry. With 80 billion animals slaughtered every year for meat and vast amounts of the Amazon rainforest already destroyed because of animal agriculture, there is a real need to find a solution that can provide meat at the scale needed to address a growing mass market. The latest funding round will allow Meatable to scale up production in Singapore, and soon in the US, as it moves towards commercialisation as part of its Go-to-Market strategy."
Krijn de Nood, co-founder and CEO of Meatable, said:
"We are thrilled to have the renewed support of our existing investors, including Agronomics, while welcoming Invest-NL as a new investor. This is a huge sign of confidence in the incredible quality, taste, and proven scalability of our product, especially in the current investment climate. When 14% of the world's global emissions comes from the traditional meat industry, it is clear there needs to be an alternative to reduce the harm our diets are currently causing the planet. We believe cultivated meat is the answer and we are confident we have the tools and the processes in place to make this a reality. We look forward to working closely with our investors as we enter our next growth phase and cement our position as global leaders."
Since this Subscription is considered a Substantial Transaction under AIM Rule 12, this announcement requires certain disclosures under Schedule Four. Meatable is an early-stage company with no revenues with operating costs of approximately €1.6 million per month, and total assets as at 31 December 2022 of €23 million, including cash or near cash of €20 million with no material liabilities.
New Agrarian, the affiliate of Agronomics, has invested €6 million, on identical terms to Agronomics for 2.86%. In aggregate, Agronomics and New Agrarian will own 9.63% of Meatable on a fully diluted basis and have the right to a board seat following the close of the financing round.
About Meatable
Meatable is an innovative, Dutch food company, aiming to deliver, at scale, the new natural, cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat. Its proprietary opti-ox™ technology [is designed to enable] Meatable to produce meat rapidly, sustainably, and without harming animals. Founded in 2018 by Krijn de Nood (CEO), Daan Luining (CTO), and Dr. Mark Kotter (principal inventor of opti-ox™ technology), Meatable has brought together a team of close to 100 experts with unique knowledge in fields including molecular biology, chemistry, tissue engineering, bioprocess development, food safety, and food science to create the new natural meat. Follow Meatable: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
About Agronomics
Agronomics is the leading listed venture capital firm with a focus on cellular agriculture. The Company has established a portfolio of over 20 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.
About Invest-NL
Invest-NL serves as the Dutch National Promotional Institution. As a leading impact investor, its core mission is to facilitate financing for ventures that may initially seem challenging to fund. By working in collaboration with diverse stakeholders, including financiers, investors, and development specialists from both the public and private sectors, Invest-NL actively tackles significant societal challenges. These encompass the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy, promoting affordable and accessible healthcare, and fostering advancements in deep tech innovations.
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 $1.8 trillion investment will be required in order to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating, however, still, less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the industry's inception in 2016.
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