Agronomics puts another $1m into cellular cotton firm GALY
Cellular agriculture investor Agronomics has put a further $1m (£0.77m) into GALY, it announced on Monday - an existing portfolio company focused on plant cell culture.
The AIM-traded firm said the company would subscribe for 364,710 series A preferred stock using cash from its own resources.
Following the investment, Agronomics would own an 4.11% equity stake in GALY.
The company described GALY as a “leading plant cell culture company” with “disruptive technology” for growing cotton from cells in a laboratory facility, rather than using traditional soil-based methods.
It is based in Boston, Massachusetts, with research in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Agronomics said it first invested in GALY in 2020, with a $0.5m investment in the form of a ‘simple agreement for future equity’ (SAFE).
It said that agreement had converted to 909,090 series A preferred shares, representing an internal rate of return of 79%, and a multiple on invested capital of 4.94.
In total, Agronomics said it would hold 1,273,800 series A preferred stock in GALY.
Subject to audit, it would carry the aggregate position in its accounts at a book value of $3.47m, representing an unrealised gain on cost of $1.97m.
The holding would account for about 1.82% of its net asset value.
“We're delighted to invest further in GALY to help drive their mission to revolutionise cotton production, safeguard our environment, and disrupt conventional agriculture,” said co-founder and executive director Jim Mellon.
“GALY has successfully demonstrated its ability to produce cotton from plant cells and Agronomics sees huge potential for other opportunities to arise from this technology.
“We're looking forward to working with the team on their exciting new growth phase.”
At 1112 GMT, shares in Agronomics were down 2.97% at 15.04p.