Tate & Lyle Ventures delivers latest exit from Fund I

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London, 15 September 2015 – Tate & Lyle Ventures announced today that its Fund I portfolio company Lumora Ltd has been sold to ERBA Diagnostics Mannheim GmbH (ERBA), a global in vitro diagnostics company.

The sale was an all-cash transaction and follows the recent sale by Lumora of its proprietary sample preparation technology to Roche which it announced on 24 August 2015.

This investment was part of Tate & Lyle Ventures Fund I which was established in 2006. Tate & Lyle Ventures first invested in Lumora, a University of Cambridge spin out, at the end of 2006 when the team led by CEO and founder Dr Laurence Tisi was still developing its molecular diagnostics technology within university labs. The Fund continued to support the business in a second round of investment in 2011 and was joined by Catapult Growth Fund to advance Lumora’s technology to the commercial stage.

Simon Barnes of Tate & Lyle Ventures said “We identified early on the potential of Lumora’s molecular diagnostics platform and believed it could transform both food safety and clinical testing. At the time, the Company had received a seed investment from the University of Cambridge and a group of business angels so we decided to invest in Lumora to support its growth potential.”

David Atkinson added “The Lumora team has consistently delivered technological breakthroughs over the years and this has ultimately led to an excellent investment return for Fund I. We have worked with management to help build an outstanding company and we are delighted that ERBA will now take the business to its next stage of development.”

Following the success of Fund I, a new Tate & Lyle Ventures Fund II was established in 2013. This Fund II is currently investing up to £30 million over an eight-year period in start-ups and expansion-stage companies in food sciences and enabling technologies in line with Tate & Lyle PLC’s strategy to grow in specialty food ingredients.

Contact:
Simon Barnes
Managing Partner, Tate & Lyle Ventures
[email protected]

David Atkinson
Managing Partner, Tate & Lyle Ventures
[email protected]

About Tate & Lyle Ventures
Tate & Lyle Ventures is a venture capital fund backed by Tate & Lyle PLC the global food ingredients company. Tate & Lyle Ventures invests in food sciences and nutrition opportunities globally and is currently investing its second £30 million ($45 million) fund launched in January 2013. The fund is independently managed by Circadia Ventures, an FCA authorised and regulated investment firm based in London, UK.

For more information please visit www.tateandlyleventures.com

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About Tate & Lyle PLC:  

Supported by our 165-year history of ingredient innovation, we partner with customers to provide consumers with healthier and tastier choices when they eat and drink. We are proud that millions of people around the world consume products containing our ingredients and solutions every day.  

Through our leading expertise in sweetening, mouthfeel and fortification, we develop ingredients and solutions which reduce sugar, calories and fat, add fibre and protein, and provide texture and stability to food and drink in categories including beverages, dairy, bakery, snacks, soups, sauces, and dressings.  

Tate & Lyle recently acquired CP Kelco, a leading provider of pectin, speciality gums and other nature-based ingredients to create a leader in mouthfeel, significantly enhancing our solutions capabilities. Following this combination, we now have more than 5,000 employees working in around 75 locations in 39 countries, serving customers in more than 120 countries. Science, Solutions, Society is our brand promise and how we will achieve our purpose of Transforming Lives through the Science of Food. By living our purpose, we believe we can successfully grow our business and have a positive impact on society. We live our purpose in three ways, by supporting healthy living, building thriving communities and caring for our planet.  

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. For the year ended 31 March 2024, and on a pro forma basis which assumes for illustrative purposes that the combination with CP Kelco took place on 1 April 2023, revenue for the enlarged Tate & Lyle Group would have been £2.25 billion. For more information, please visit www.tateandlyle.com or follow Tate & Lyle on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Facebook or YouTube