Press release- Unibio completes USD 15 M (GBP 12.4 M) financing round
Funds enable commencement of global roll-out of
full-scale protein-from-methane production technology.
London & Copenhagen, 28 August 2019 – Unibio International plc has raised USD 15 million (GBP 12.4 million) from existing and new shareholders.
The investment will allow Unibio to initiate full-scale production projects, together with local partners, around the world (including in the USA and the Arabian Gulf). In addition, Unibio will expand its R&D activities and strengthen the organization for the commercial stage but first and foremost commence a global roll-out of additional commercial projects around the world. The financing was led by West Hill Capital. Unibio is still in discussion with potential additional corporate and financial investors.
“We are very pleased with the continued backing of our shareholders and very pleased to welcome new shareholders to Unibio,” says Unibio Group CEO Henrik Busch-Larsen. “We have made strong progress in the past few years, with continued productivity improvements in our technology and hence increased cost-effectiveness. We have also signed two licence agreements. I would like to thank our shareholders for their support, our people for their constant dedication and West Hill for their great efforts on Unibio’s behalf. Together we are addressing one of the biggest challenges of our time, how to feed the soon to be 10 billion people, without placing even more stress on our planet.”
Unibio’s fermentation technology allows the large-scale production of affordable, high-quality protein, sold under the brand name Uniprotein®, via a process that uses little water and no agricultural land. Protein for human or animal consumption can thus be produced without the use of farmland or fishing, leading to a more sustainable food production. Uniprotein® is an organic, safe and extensively tested microbial protein that has been approved by the EU for all animal and fish species.
Unibio is a world-leading alternative protein company with core competences in microbial fermentation technologies. In collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark and others, Unibio has developed a range of innovative technologies under the U-Loop® brand. These technologies allow the cost-effective, large-scale conversion of methane (natural gas or biogas) into high-quality protein using methanotrophic (“methane-eating”) microbes.
Unlike most other alternate protein approaches, Unibio’s technologies allow the full decoupling of protein production from farming and fishing. They thus help address one of the key challenges of today’s world – how to provide a growing population with high-quality food, without further exploiting depleted fish stocks or converting ever more land to intensive agriculture. At the same time, the process provides owners of gas assets with a commercially attractive way to valorize their gas, addressing significant and growing markets with a low environmental footprint process and product.
Unibio has its pilot and R&D facilities at the Technical University of Denmark near Copenhagen and operates a demonstration plant in Kalundborg, Denmark. The first full-scale production plant, constructed and operated by Unibio’s partner Protelux, is being commissioned in Russia. Since formation Unibio has raised a total of USD 35 million in financing, including the current round.
Unibio has signed two licence agreements, one for the Russian Federation and one for the USA.
For more information, please contact:
Henrik Busch-Larsen, Unibio Group CEO
Phone: +45 6310 4040
E-mail: hbl@unibiogroup.com
www.unibiogroup.com
