Agronomics pours another $0.75m into sustainable seafood firm BlueNalu

Agronomics has completed a subscription of $0.75m (£0.62m) for 40,540 series A preferred shares in BlueNalu, it announced on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the subscription, which increased its existing interest in BlueNalu of 2.01% to 2.59%, would be paid using cash from its own resources.

It said the subscription was part of the series A funding round undertaken by BlueNalu, and co-led by Stray Dog Ventures, Clear Current Capital Fund, CPT Capital Fund, and New Crop Capital Trust, which the board described as “four prominent investors” in the alternative protein sector.

The price per share of the subscription represented a multiple uplift of about 3.2x since Agronomics’ original investment in BlueNalu of $0.25m in August last year.

Agronomics said it now holds 83,897 shares of BlueNalu, comprising 43,357 seed preferred shares and 40,540 series A preferred shares, with a book value of $1.55m.

The firm explained that BlueNalu was founded in 2017 and was led by president and chief executive officer Lou Cooperhouse, who it described as a “globally recognised expert” in food innovation and technology commercialisation, together with chief technology officer Chris Dammann, who it said was a scientific expert with a background in cell biology and tissue culture.

BlueNalu produced seafood directly from fish cells, with a mission is to be the “global leader” in cellular aquaculture, and offer a wide array of sustainable seafood.

“With this financing, BlueNalu has affirmed its position as a global leader in the cellular aquaculture field,” said Agronomics chairman Richard Reed.

“Agronomics is delighted to be participating in this funding round as we continue to support BlueNalu in their developments.

“The investment is complementary with Agronomics portfolio strategy, to combat the increasing issues present in the traditional fishing industry and more widely, improving the sustainability of global food supply chains.”

Lou Cooperhouse of BlueNalu said the company had brought together a leadership team with experiences in a “broad array of disciplines” that would be required for success, including food innovation, technology commercialization, cell biology, tissue engineering, intellectual property, large-scale manufacturing, product safety, consumer marketing, and a “strong commitment” to strategic partnerships.

“We are grateful to Agronomics for their continued investment to BlueNalu, as well as the many other investors and partners that are assisting us in making the vision of cell-based seafood a reality.

“Together, we can have a major impact on supplementing our global supply chain of seafood.”