Trendlines Agrifood Fund Makes First Investment
Feb 19, 2020, 08:00 ET
MISGAV, Israel and SINGAPORE, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Trendlines Group Ltd. ("Trendlines") (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY), is pleased to announce that its newly-formed fund, Trendlines Agrifood Fund Pte. Ltd. ("the Fund"), has made its first investment, investing in Equinom Ltd, ("Equinom") a seed breeding technology business.
Awareness of the agrifood industry's impact on climate change is a growing global priority. Technological solutions will be a major driver and critical component of change and development in the agrifood industry and this represents a major opportunity for the Fund. Equinom's unique non-GMO technology, which optimizes seed functionality to increase plant yield, higher nutritional value, disease resistance and more, is an ideal fit with the Fund's focus and strategy. The Trendlines Agrifood Fund is investing US$1.6 million (of an US$10 million round) alongside lead investor BASF Venture Capital, the investment arm of global materials and chemical company BASF, as well as existing investors Fortissimo Capital, a leading Israeli private equity fund, and Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients for food, nutrition and health markets and a pioneer in new vegetable proteins.
The agriculture and food sectors are facing enormous challenges to provide enough nutritious food for a growing population, without destroying the planet's resources. The utilization of technology is key to providing sustainable solutions to these challenges. Equinom leverages traditional crossbreeding with computational genetic algorithms to develop new, highly strategic seed and legume varieties with unmatched accuracy and at significantly higher speeds. Their bioinformatics-based technology accelerates seed breeding, achieving new levels of productivity to enable the creation of high-protein crops for sustainable plant proteins.
Trendlines previously announced that it intends to invest 66% of the Fund's capital in commercial or growth stage companies. CEO of Trendlines Agrifood Fund, Nitza Kardish, PhD., commented," The Fund's investment in Equinom corresponds with our investment focus to invest in growth stage companies that have the potential to make a real difference to yields, nutritional value, and sustainability of crops. Equinom's technology and products has the potential to meet all these criteria."
As a key investor in the Fund, British entrepreneur, Vincent Tchenguiz, commented: "Investing in more sustainable food production systems that mitigate climate change is paramount in tackling the challenges of this century caused by climate change. Our investment in Trendlines and in the Agrifood Fund represents our firm belief in the potential of technologies in the agrifood portfolio to have a profound positive impact on the global food production footprint. This comes at a time when our plant's environment is changing so dramatically and the need for sustainable solutions in the production of food is so great."
About The Trendlines Group
The Trendlines Group is an innovation commercialization company that invents, discovers, invests in, and incubates innovation-based medical and agrifood technologies to fulfill its mission to improve the human condition. As intensely hands-on investors, Trendlines is involved in all aspects of its portfolio companies from technology development to business building. Trendlines' shares are traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX: 42T) and in the United States, as an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) on the OTCQX (OTCQX: TRNLY).
About Equinom
Equinom was founded in 2012 on the backdrop of the dramatic transformation in genetics, which made genomic sequencing accessible and affordable. Equinom is now pursuing two parallel breeding tracks. First, the company has developed high-yield, shatter-resistant sesame, and has become the world's largest provider – with farms in the USA, Australia and Europe. Concurrently, Equinom is breeding super trait plant protein – sustainable, reliable and healthy legumes for alternative proteins, relying only on what nature has provided. Equinom is committed to developing products that transform markets by changing their economies, helping the food industry and its supply chain to create better and affordable food ingredients to feed the Earth's growing population. Further information at www.equi-nom.com
Investor Contact Information
Israel:
Shira Zimmerman
The Trendlines Group
[email protected]
Tel: +972-72-260-7000
Singapore and China:
Reyna MEI
Financial PR
[email protected]
Tel: +65-6438-2990
SOURCE The Trendlines Group
