January 24, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Climate tech startup Rumin8 is the first Australian startup to receive an investment from Bill Gates. 

The company announced it has closed on Phase 2 of its Seed fundraising oversubscribed, raising another US$12 million from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) and Harvest Road Group, the agrifood business of Andrew and Nicola Forrest. 

Australia’s Aware Super Sentient WA Growth Fund and U.S.-based Prelude Ventures also participated in this second phase of Seed funding, which brought total capital raised to-date to approximately AUD$25 million (US$17.6 million). 

Based in Perth, Rumin8 produces climate-friendly supplements that reduce methane emissions from livestock. Their success is built upon its patented technology and proprietary experience in synthesizing and stabilizing otherwise volatile bioactive compounds (meaning they evaporate or degrade when separated from their plant-based carrier).

Using this expertise, Rumin8 is able to identify naturally occurring compounds that have anti-methanogenic properties and reproduce them in a highly efficient, low-cost, and scalable process. 

This technology is applicable to a range of methane reducing compounds found in plants, and the company is currently working on developing a range of feed supplements suitable for livestock in feedlots and/or pastures. 

“The demand for sustainable protein has never been more apparent, which is why BEV is keenly interested in reducing methane emissions from beef and dairy,” said Carmichael Roberts, BEV. 

“Rumin8 offers a low cost, scalable toolbox that has already proven to be effective in reducing emissions. Our team will support Rumin8 in working closely with farmers to expand the reach of this solution globally.”

An assessment released in 2021 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition determined that reducing farming-generated methane levels is of high priority for fighting climate change.

Livestock emissions from both gastrointestinal release and manure account for about 32 percent of all methane emissions caused by human activity, such as farming. But why is methane so harmful? The aforementioned report explains that methane is the primary cause of the formation of ground-level ozone – a dangerous pollutant and greenhouse gas responsible for 1 million premature deaths each year. Furthermore, as a greenhouse gas, methane is 80 times more potent at causing global warming compared to CO2, over a 20-year period. 

With the capital raised through this Seed round, Rumin8 intends to accelerate its path to commercialization by funding commercial trials in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and the U.S. It also will advance its product brand development, and the development of its pilot manufacturing plant. 

“We have been very pleased with the reception we have received from climate impact funds around the world,” said David Messina, managing director, Rumin8. “There is a genuine desire to fund solutions to enteric methane emissions from livestock and fortunately for Rumin8, they can see the benefits of our technology.”

“Our laboratory results continue to yield excellent results, our animal trials are reflecting the laboratory results, and the financial modeling we are undertaking is indicating we will be able to supply our products at a commercial price point,” Messina continued. 

“Prior to the Phase 2 seed funding round, we were progressing a number of key work streams sequentially. Now we have the resources to progress them in parallel, speeding up the road to commercialisation.”

Harvest Road CEO Paul Slaughter noted that their group is approaching the challenge of mitigating the impact of agriculture on the environment through methane reduction from multiple angles.

The importance of tackling the problem from more than one approach was also expressed by UNEP Food Systems and Agriculture Advisor James Lomax in the 2021 assessment, when he stated that the world needs to be “rethinking our approaches to agricultural cultivation and livestock production” by leveraging emerging technologies and by shifting dietary demands. 

“We are actively seeking solutions to reduce methane emissions in livestock supply chains, with Harvest Road supporting multiple emerging technologies focussed on methane reduction in ruminant animals,” said Slaughter. 

“Feed additives are an important pillar in our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint and support our ambition to help solve the global methane emissions challenge.”

Slaughter concluded, “We believe Rumin8’s new technology has broad ranging application across the livestock sector and offers a promising solution for industry.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.