UK company Agronomics Limited (LSE: ANIC) and its affiliate investment vehicle New Agrarian Company have invested a total of $25 million to lead a Series A investment round in Sydney-based alternative protein start-up All G Foods.
Agronomics, which claims to be the UK’s leading listed company focused on cellular agriculture, has invested $15 million which will give it an 8.01% stake in All G Foods at the close of the round. An additional $10 million is being invested by New Agrarian Company for 5.34%.
Agronomics will have the right to a board seat after the round is closed.
All G Foods expects the round to close as the largest Series A to date in an Australian food tech company.
Existing investors in All G Foods include the venture capital arm of Woolworths (ASX: WOW), W23, and the federal government financed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
All G Foods has developed technology which can be used to produce meat alternatives and is commercialising technology to produce non-dairy ‘milk’. The company’s non-animal protein mince, burger patties, sausages, nuggets and arancini products are already distributed to some Woolworths outlets.
All G Foods founder and chief executive Jan Pacas said Agronomics was a world-leading investor in cellular agriculture companies which were seeking to solve some of the food industry’s greatest challenges. Agronomics invests in businesses that have defensible technologies that can change the impact of humans on the planet, he added.
Pacas said the current investment would enable All G Foods to accelerate commercialisation of both plant-based foods and fermentation process-based products.
Agronomics had identified All G Foods as having leading dairy precision fermentation expertise and notably a focus on casein micelle formation, the 3D spherical assembly of casein proteins critical for full functionality in dairy products which to date has been a challenge for dairy substitute production globally.
Pacas said he expected to soon be able to announce additional investors and capital for the Series A round.
All G Foods was founded by in 2020 by Pacas who previously founded and exited online pet sitting marketplace Mad Paws and employee onboarding software company Flare.
All G Foods has a technical team led by Professor Roman Buckow, professor of practice in food engineering at Sydney University, and Dr Jared Raynes, a former food chemistry and dairy lead at CSIRO.
As Agronomics’ investment in All G Foods is regarded as “substantial” under London Stock Exchange AIM rules, the company is required to disclose certain details.
It stated: “All G Foods is an early-stage company generating small revenues with operating costs of approximately $A476,000 per month, and total assets, as at 30 June, 2022, of $8.8 million including cash or near cash of $A4.9 million with no material liabilities.”
Executive director Jim Mellon said Agronomics was delighted to be expanding its portfolio to include All G Foods and increasing its exposure to the readily disruptable dairy industry which was large enough to support multiple winners in different geographies.
“We recognise Asia Pacific as a growing market for alternative proteins and realise the need for further focus on precision fermentation dairy, given the enormous markets and the cruelty of conventional dairy farming,” he said.
Mellon said Agronomics’ portfolio also included an investment in San Antonio, Texas, based Liberation Labs, a developer of precision fermentation technologies for food production. He said this meant Agronomics was taking a proactive approach to ensuring the infrastructure and broader ecosystem would be in place for industrial production by the time its alternative foods portfolio companies were ready for large-scale production.
Image: All G Foods chief executive Jan Pacas with the company’s burger product.