Agrinos, a Norway-based developer of agricultural nutrition products, secured $14.7m yesterday in a private placement that included fertiliser producer EuroChem Group.
Manor Investment, part of natural resource efficiency-focused investment firm Manor Group, also participated, along with an investment vehicle called Havfonn. Frederic de Stexhe, principal at Manor Group, joined the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
Agrinos supplies biofertilisers and biostimulants intended to increase the yield of crops along with their sustainability, helping them utilise other products such as fertiliser more efficiently.
The funding represented the first tranche of additional commitments that will fund the company’s activities, including research and development and geographical growth, this year, it said.
Rudolf Graf von Plettenberg, EuroChem’s head of premium products and development, said: “EuroChem fully supports sustainable agriculture, and our investment in Agrinos demonstrates our commitment to this cause.
“We believe the partnership between EuroChem and Agrinos will enable us to continue combining our strengths in product innovation and to develop the most effective and environmentally-sustainable products for farmers.”
The company had previously raised $20.7m from the same three investors in a January 2016 private placement, with EuroChem contributing half the capital, shortly after Agrinos and EuroChem formed a partnership covering marketing, sales, distribution research and development.
Manor and Havfonn were among the investors that supplied $19m for Agrinos in 2014 in the form of convertible bond financing. It raised $9m in debt financing the year before, at the same time as Manor paid $15m for 16.8% stake in the company.