Redag Crop Protection secures £1.6m of growth capital in fight to support global food security

Agrochemical discovery company Redag Crop Protection Limited has successfully completed an initial £1.6m equity fundraising, as part of a larger financing round, with the support of venture capital advisory firm KPMG Acceleris. The capital will accelerate the development of its innovative crop protection products to support global food security.

The company, which is based in the North of England, enables sustainable food production through the development of innovative, highly effective crop protection products. The business was established in 2014 having spun-out from drug development company Redx Pharma PLC.

Redag 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 company is targeting multiple different markets within the crop protection product sector and has filed an extensive IP estate.

The new round of fundraising has been sourced from existing shareholders including family offices and high net worth investors. The capital will 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. KPMG Acceleris provides access to an active pool of investors to support investments of £1m to £30m+ and specialises in fundraising for high growth businesses seeking pre-seed to Series A finance. The firm has a particular focus on businesses in technology, life sciences and ESG-related sectors.

Bill Thompson, CEO of Redag Crop Protection, 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of consolidation across large agrochemical companies, alongside an increasing number of compounds being deregistered or withdrawn for health, safety or environmental reasons.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.

“At Redag, we seek to address the global challenge of food security by providing highly active, low dose solutions to the biotic challenges to crops which can be registered at low cost, rapidly opening the availability of proprietary products to a wider customer base than has previously been the case.”

The fundraising was led by Simon Thorn, Managing Partner of KPMG Acceleris. Commenting on the transaction, Thorn said: “Bill and the team at Redag Crop have built something really special. The business is a standout innovator in the sector that is pushing the boundaries of sustainable food production. The fundraising provides vital capital to fuel the development and commercialisation of its cutting-edge crop protection products.

“We’re proud to have worked with Bill and the team at Redag Crop since it was a start-up and are thrilled to continue that support as it takes this next step at what is an incredibly important time as the battle to support food security intensifies. Redag Crop provides an exciting opportunity for our network of investors to back an ambitious and proven leader in its field and invest in a business that is addressing a global challenge facing society.”

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