Intellectual Ventures Announces Formation and Launch of CF Global Holdings, Inc.

BELLEVUE, Wash., April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Intellectual Ventures® (IV®) announced today the formation of, and ongoing collaboration with CF Global Holdings, Inc. (CF Global), manufacturer of Coffee Flour™, a new, sustainable food ingredient derived from coffee cherries. Coffee Flour's inventor, Dan Belliveau, worked closely with Intellectual Ventures over the past two years to develop CF Global's overall intellectual property strategy and the technical process of converting the coffee cherry pulp into nutritious, gluten-free flour. Intellectual Ventures is also providing financial and technical support for scientific testing and product development of Coffee Flour.

Intellectual Ventures works with inventors and companies around the world to help commercialize their ideas through its intellectual property expertise and global network of business contacts. As an investor and collaborator, Intellectual Ventures will help Coffee Flour Global with business introductions and assist with licensing negotiations in the global food and beverage industry.

"Our relationship with Intellectual Ventures, and the intellectual property strategy they implemented around our technology, has been instrumental to the formation and growth of CF Global," said Dan Belliveau, inventor, founder and chief executive officer of CF Global. "As we move forward, we'll continue to work closely with Intellectual Ventures to make our vision for Coffee Flour – one we feel will change the course of coffee history – a reality."

CF Global focuses on making a positive environmental and economic impact in coffee growing communities around the world. The company's business model is structured to create a new revenue source for farmers, pickers, and mills while reducing the environmental impact of green coffee production. Until today, coffee cherry pulp has been an unvalued byproduct resulting from the 17 billion pounds of coffee beans harvested around the world each year. Coffee Flour is produced by drying and milling the previously unvalued coffee cherry pulp, thereby creating a new and sustainable source of revenue for small-scale coffee farmers worldwide.

"Intellectual Ventures has a long history of investing in invention and working with inventors like Dan Belliveau to improve, patent, and commercialize their inventions. We believe Coffee Flour has tremendous promise," said Ken Poppe, U.S. Country Head for the Invention Development Fund (IDF) at Intellectual Ventures. "This idea has the potential to drive significant value for nearly every facet of the supply chain – from farm to table."

Intellectual Ventures is joined in its collaboration with CF Global Holdings, Inc. by several other entities, including NohBell Corporation, and two of the global coffee industry's leading companies ECOM Agroindustrial Corp. Ltd., and Mercon Coffee Corporation.

About Intellectual Ventures

Founded in 2000, Intellectual Ventures (IV) is the global leader in the business of invention. IV collaborates with leading inventors, partners with pioneering companies, and invests expertise and capital in the process of invention. IV's mission is to energize and streamline an invention economy that will drive innovation around the world.

About CF Global Holdings, Inc.

CF Global Holdings, Inc. is a company formed to produce and commercialize Coffee Flour. Coffee Flour is an agricultural innovation inspired by the discovery of billions of pounds of nutrition that is currently being discarded due to perishability and the difficulty in handling the material. A process has been invented which captures green coffee bean milling byproduct, and converts it into a nutrient dense ingredient. The CF Global organization is dedicated to creating positive environmental, economic and societal impacts in the belief that innovation can help solve the world's problems. The Coffee Flour project is a genuine effort to create "economically sustainable sustainability," nurturing the planet and its people through profitable enterprise.

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Intellectual Ventures
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SOURCE Intellectual Ventures