Gaule: Give a brief description of the purpose of your venture, when it was formed and how the process occurs.
Atkinson: Circadia Ventures was formed in April 2006 to manage the Tate & Lyle Ventures fund. Following a restructuring of Tate & Lyle by new chief executive, Javed Ahmed, in 2011, the ventures team began to work more closely with the innovation and commercial development (ICD) group which had begun to develop its own open innovation (OI) initiative. Utilising our existing networks, the ventures team was able to help the OI team develop new relationships and this led to the recent signing of a licence deal with Nandi Proteins, a spin-out from Heriot-Watt University [in the UK]. The ventures team looks to continue to support Tate & Lyle’s OI initiative now it has begun work on Tate & Lyle Ventures II, a second £30m ($45m)
fund that will invest in food sciences and technologies, notably in areas aligned to Tate & Lyle’s strategic goals.
Gaule: What have been the lessons you have learnt from the first fund?
Atkinson: We have been, and remain, very active and involved investors, taking board seats in each of the investee companies. As we move forward and need to spend more time creating dealflow for the second fund, we will need to balance our time more effectively. It is important that we focus on areas of particular interest, today or potentially in the future, to Tate & Lyle. While we will look at all stages of investment, ideally we would like to find investments where a degree of commercial validation has already been achieved.
Gaule: How has the relationship with Tate & Lyle developed over the term of the first fund?
Atkinson: Our relationship with Tate & Lyle is excellent, in particular with central management and the ICD group, with whom we have the most interaction. From day one we spent a great deal of time developing relationships at all levels of the organisation, trying to understand the strategy of the organisation, how we may be able to add value and being mindful of the many demands on people’s time, especially if we are asking for help. The recent work with the OI team trying to develop new leads not only led to a licence agreement being completed but also raised the ventures profile
within the group and ultimately helped gain senior management support for the second fund.
Gaule: Give a brief overview of the people in the team and the partners you work with.
Atkinson: The ventures team at present is just Simon Barnes, the other managing partner, and myself. Simon and I have complementary backgrounds and look at all deal opportunities jointly, Simon’s background in life sciences complementing my own in investment banking and my food industry network. With a new fund to invest, it is our intention to add to the team, with at least one associate who will assist in sourcing new dealflow and on the due diligence process. Tate & Lyle also have the right to place a secondee with the fund and this has worked successfully in the past.
Gaule: What was your most interesting recent deal?
Atkinson: All the deals I have been involved in have been interesting in different ways. I suppose the one I have been most involved in from day one was the investment in Bio-Film, a developer and manufacturer of dissolvable films that carry an active ingredient. It was acquired from its previous
parent, Devro, at the end of 2007. We supported the management team and negotiated the acquisition, brought in co-investors and have helped reposition the business to supply the higher-margin growth markets in consumer healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Originally loss-making, the business is now successfully growing revenue and is cash generative.
You can get free previous audios of Gaule’s Question Time at the iTunes store – search Corven Group – and as audio downloads from Global Corporate Venturing or from www.corven.com/corven-networks.To contact Andrew Gaule and for future interview ideas email andrew.gaule@corven.com and tlewis@globalcorporateventuring.com