Following their recent long-term strategic research and commercial partnership, Nutreco goes one step further and acquires a minority stake in BiomEdit, which it defines as "animal health's most advanced microbiome biotech company". This investment represents a further strengthening of the partnership between the two companies. Its goal is to bring "innovative and truly novel feed additives developed through microbiome technology" to livestock and aquaculture producers.
"Through this investment, we are reinforcing the unique collaboration that brings together BiomEdit's state-of-the-art microbiome discovery platform and Nutreco's customer access and distribution capabilities", said Fulco van Lede, CEO of Nutreco. "We're excited about its potential to help us super-charge our supply of proprietary ultra-specialty ingredients, speed up progress on our purpose of Feeding the Future and create a more sustainable future for our industry", he added.
Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit, also expressed his satisfaction with the entry of the new investor. "Nutreco's investment in BiomEdit underscores our strategic partnership and a shared mission to create novel animal health solutions through the untapped potential of the microbiome", he stated. "We are pleased that Nutreco, a global leader in animal nutrition and aquafeed, is joining our roster of world-class Series A investors to help fuel innovation in feed additive products".
As mentioned by Schacht, Nutreco acquired this minority stake in BiomEdit through the company's recent Series A funding round. Initially raised in April 2022 in its spin-off from Elanco Animal Health, including asset and technology contributions from Ginkgo Bioworks, and Elanco, Anterra Capital, Viking Global Investors, and Ferment are also investors in BiomEdit.
As Erik Tveteraas, Investment Director at Nutreco, explained in his TalentView, for the Dutch multinational, investment is a tool for the future and it is common for them to invest in start-ups with projections in the sector. They did so, for example, with Eruvaka, an India-based company that develops cloud-based aquaculture pond management solutions. Nutreco started as a minority partner in 2018 and went on to control 93.7% of the company in August 2022, and its plan is to gain full ownership over the course of 2023. "Our purpose of 'Feeding the Future' drives us to invest in innovative technologies that improve the sustainability of our food supply chain", van Lede explained when that increase in its stake in the Indian start-up was announced.
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Fishers, Indiana, BiomEdit discovers, designs, and develops novel probiotics, microbiome-derived Biome-actives, and engineered microbial medicines to address unmet needs in animal health. Its industry-leading next-generation cell programming platform forms the foundation of its R&D program, which uses high-throughput sequencing and data analytics to rapidly discover and screen new beneficial bacteria, peptides, and metabolites. BiomEdit's products will be manufactured by fermentation, a safe and natural production method.
With more than 100 years of experience and 12,300 employees in more than 37 countries around the world, Nutreco is a world leader in animal nutrition through Trouw Nutrition, and in aquaculture through Skretting. As part of Trouw Nutrition, its feed additives brand, Selko, consists of feed additive solutions along the entire feed-to-feed value chain. The Nutreco Exploration (NutEx) team develops novel and proprietary ultra-specialties in the form of feed additives or functional feed to meet customer needs through plant genetics, biotechnologies and physicochemistry. Nutreco's NuFrontiers team works to identify, develop and invest in breakthrough next-generation innovations across the value chain. In 2021, Nutreco had net revenues of €7.1 billion. The company is a subsidiary of SHV N.V., a family-owned multinational with net sales of €20 billion in 2021.
