Redag Crop Protection secures £1.6million equity for future business growth and development

GREENVALE AND its growers are using ‘Sandy’ to see where they currently sit in terms of their natural capital and carbon footprint, and what the best options are for the future

LEADING potato supplier, Greenvale AP, has partnered with Trinity AgTech to roll out Trinity’s ‘natural capital’ navigator – called Sandy – to farms across the country.

The aim is to support farmers credibly and confidently analyse and reach their environmental targets, said Joann Reid, technical director at Greenvale, who added that the business was looking to update its environmental strategy by identifying areas for carbon reduction, before it set ambitious but achievable new targets for growers.

“As a leading supplier of fresh potatoes and the UK’s largest supplier of organic

potatoes, we are actively building a strategy to deliver against a growing demand for more sustainable produce. We want to fulfil consumer and supply chain demands for sustainable, low carbon produce, so we’ve been looking for the right partner to work with that helps us meet these needs,” she said.

To do this, robust analytics based on the right science and methods are required to understand where Greenvale and its growers currently sit in terms of their natural capital and carbon footprint, and what the best options are for the future, she pointed out.

“The nature of growing

potatoes currently involves relatively high carbon outputs. But, gathering rigorous analytics through Sandy will allow us to set ambitious, yet achievable goals to credibly reduce our carbon outputs, and convey them with integrity,” said Ms Reid.

“We haven’t come across another natural capital navigator which offered the breadth that Sandy offers. The long-term aim of this new partnership is to create financial, environmental, and social resilience for Greenvale growers by capturing scientific data and analysis which growers can use to accurately pinpoint areas of opportunity.”

AGROCHEMICAL discovery company Redag Crop Protection has successfully completed an initial £1.6m equity fundraising as part of a larger financing round.

The capital aims to accelerate the development of the company’s innovative crop protection products, which it said would “support global food security”.

Based in Macclesfield, Redag was established in 2014 having spun-out from drug development company Redx Pharma PLC.

It currently has in excess of 50 new compounds in development including later-stage products that have demonstrated ‘excellent results’ in glasshouse testing and field trials.

The chemical discovery company said it was now targeting multiple different markets within the crop protection product sector, and has filed an extensive IP estate.

It added that the capital would enable the company to further invest in its agrochemical discovery programme Project Evolve.

The transaction is the first fundraising for KPMG Acceleris, the venture capital advisory firm, after it secured approval from the FCA in November 2022.

CEO of Redag, Bill Thompson, said: “This successful fundraising from our supportive investor base will enable us to accelerate the unique intellectual property position created by Project Evolve.

“The industry has seen a declining number of compounds in development following a period of consolidation across large agrochemical companies, alongside an increasing number of compounds being deregistered or withdrawn for health, safety or environmental reasons.

“Right across the industry there is a strategic need for new compounds to replace the older compounds to provide greater efficacy, safety and environmental sustainability.”

The fundraising was led by Simon Thorn, managing partner of KPMG Acceleris, who said the team at Redag Crop had “built something really special”.

“The business is a standout innovator in the sector that is pushing the boundaries of sustainable food production,” Mr Thorn said.

“The fundraising provides vital capital to fuel the development and commercialisation of its cutting-edge crop protection products.”