Alianza Team invests in microbial oil maker Clean Food Group

Under a new collaboration agreement, Agronomics Ltd’s portfolio company Clean Food Group gets a cash injection from the South American lipid, nutrition and frozen bakery giant Alianza Team who serves the US, Mexican, Chilean, and Colombian food markets. The £900,500 investment is part of Clean Food Group’s ongoing pre-Series A financing that is expected to close this month.

Under the collaboration, the spin-out of Chris Chuck’s group at the University of Bath will licence the commercialisation rights of its yeast cell-based production process of palm oil to Allianza Team. Clean Food Group’s cellular agriculture platform converts food waste into palm oil, providing a sustainable alternative to the top three deforestation drivers that contribute about 25% to CO₂ emissions: beef and dairy, soy, palm oil production. The company focuses its business activities on replacement of palm oil in foods and cosmetics. Agronomics has an equity ownership of 30.59% on a fully diluted basis in Clean Food Group.

The long-term collaboration agreement is expected to accelerate Clean Food Group’s pathway to commercialisation of its microbial oil and fat products and will combine Clean Food Group’s expertise in the production of yeast-derived oils with Alianza Team’s 75 years’ experience and expertise in developing functional, value-added oils and fats products for the world’s leading food manufacturers. Together, Clean Food Group and Alianza Team will develop, and bring to market, products which meet the industry’s need for sustainable, functional and cost competitive oils and fats to replace commonly used and agriculturally intensive food ingredients.

Clean Food Group plans to use the capital raised from its pre-Series A funding to scale up its technology platform whilst advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways. Clean Food Group expects to complete a Series A funding next year to build a commercial scale manufacturing facility and bring microbial palm oil to the market by 2027, latest.

“Alianza Team is committed to creating a new future of healthy and sustainable food choices for our customers” commented Luis Botero, President and CEO at Alianza Team.