Production

$7m climate fund injection into livestock methane supplement

Beef Central, 18/07/2022

West Australian climate technology company Rumin8 has announced it has received $7 million in investment backing from domestic and international climate impact funds.

Rumin8’s lead product claims to replicate the methane reductions of red seaweed (Asparagopsis), but instead of harvesting from the marine ecosystem, the plant’s “methane busting bioactive” is manufactured and transformed into a scalable, stable feed supplement in Rumin8’s quality-controlled laboratories.

US-based Prelude Ventures and the Aware Super Sentient WA Growth Fund managed by Australian-based Sentient Impact Group, have contributed the equity funding. For both entities, investing to provide scalable solutions to address climate change while delivering financial returns is core to their mission.

Rumin8 CEO David Messina

“Livestock contribute an estimated six per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions through methane production. If we can reduce those emissions – and our research is demonstrating that we can – it has a big impact, not just on the planet, but also on the long-term sustainability of the world’s livestock industries and the rural communities which rely on them,” Rumin8 Managing Director David Messina said.

Rumin8 says it has recently concluded highly encouraging sheep trials which demonstrated methane reductions of up to 95 per cent, with no residues detected in 80 independently analysed samples.

In addition, Rumin8 is confident that there will be productivity benefits – increased growth rates and milk production – for farmers who use Rumin8 products.

Rumin8’s unique manufacturing process will enable its livestock feed supplements to be packaged into a liquid, an oil and, a solid and slow-release formulation making distribution to the livestock more efficient and effective. Furthermore, as a pharmaceutically-developed product, Rumin8’s products are low cost, scalable, and repeatable.

“Aware Super and Sentient, through the Growth Fund, and Prelude have invested in Rumin8 as they want to accelerate the development of Rumin8’s products to make a real difference to global emissions,” Mr Messina said.

Aware Super Chief Executive Officer Deanne Stewart said the fund was delighted to have invested in Rumin8 through Sentient.

“Our 50,000 West Australian members will be proud to know that a portion of their retirement savings is invested in Rumin8 – one of Western Australia’s most innovative climate technology companies,” Ms Stewart said. “We manage around $5 billion in retirement savings on behalf of our West Australian members, and investing in an exciting, innovative business like Rumin8 is not just great for the strong, long-term returns it can deliver for our members – it’s also directly tackling the biggest global issue of our time.”

Rumin8 is Prelude Ventures’ first investment in an Australian company.

Prelude Ventures Managing Director Mark Cupta said Rumin8’s ability to create a significant and lasting impact on the livestock industries’ emissions made it a compelling proposition to invest.

“Prelude was particularly attracted to Rumin8’s scalability. The global beef industry is huge, and so is its environmental impact. Rumin8 possesses a technology that can move the dial in terms of efficacy at an individual animal level and scalability at a global herd level, generating impactful benefits for the environment and a return on investments for shareholders.”

Sentient Impact Group CEO Oliver Yates said: “Rumin8’s potential environmental impact is hugely appealing, but as an innovative new business in Western Australia, it’s also likely that it will deliver clear social benefits through job creation and development of new industry. This is central to the mandate of the Growth Fund we manage for Aware Super and more broadly to our impact mandate as a business.”

Source: Rumin8

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Comments

  1. Rodrigo Prado Donoso, DVM, M. S., M. Phil., 15/02/2023

    Could we introduce the product in Chile? I am a veterinarian, I am interested in introducing this technology in Chile and other south american countries. I was Professor at the University of Chile, in charge of teaching beef cattle production.
    My contact is rpradochile@gmail.com

  2. Jim Gibbs, 19/07/2022

    At such an early stage of product assessment, surely there are few questions to be addressed?

    1) Where does the hydrogen go?
    2) Are the trials published, or will they be published?
    3) Bromoforms are formally classified by the US and the EU, to restrict human consumption. They are fat soluble, with a formidable literature around tissue storage and physiological activity in vertebrates. They are excreted in both urine and faeces to the environment. Now we are going to deliberately feed them. How does that work?

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