Upwards of $30 million dollars in investment money is on the line in a new deal between Bee-io and an unnamed investor.
The food-tech industry has supplied consumers with a healthy supply of animal-free animal products for years, and Bee-io, a startup that has developed a way to produce bee-free honey, is a telling illustration of the amount of money investors are willing to pour into the burgeoning market.
This week, the company has entered into the early stages of an investment with an international investor who intends to invest $30 million dollars into the company. The identity of the investor has yet to be revealed, but according to Bee-io, it is “a company with international business that includes, among other things, activity in the US and Latin America.”
The two parties have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding, which represents the initial steps toward sealing the deal, which also includes the unnamed investor’s commitment to raise at least $6m by means of a rights issue to the company’s existing shareholders.
Once (or if) the investment goes through, Bee-io intends to use the funds in order to advance its research activities, develop future products, establish a dedicated plant for the production and marketing of cultured honey in the USA and accelerate the penetration of international markets in additional territories.
“This investor has an excellent reputation, extensive experience and international business, and the connection between the two parties will create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts,” said CEO of Bio-Honey Ofir Dvash (whose surname is, aptly, the Hebrew word for honey).
“This investor has an excellent reputation, extensive experience and international business, and the connection between the two parties will create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Ofir Dvash
“Combining forces with an international strategic investor will enable the company to grow rapidly [and] to take advantage of the significant opportunities we identify in the global market,” he said.
Bee-io’s so-called “cultured honey,” is produced under laboratory conditions, using natural nectar derived from plants.
Honey production
Thanks to the company’s nectar production technique (a tightly-held trade secret), the company is able to produce a remarkably expansive range of honey varieties and strains, each with up to 100% of its nectar derived from a single type of plant.
In nature, it’s almost impossible to produce honey that uses pollen from one type of flower – but Bee-io is poised to break new ground, potentially offering products like 100% eucalyptus honey (a variety which typically only contains 20% eucalyptus nectar), as well as more exotic varieties such as citrus or manuka honey.
“I have no doubt that this investment, as it matures, will be one of the main moves that will lead to the creation of a very significant value for bio-honey in the coming years,” Dvash said, adding that it would allow his company “to realize even more strongly our vision of eliminating man’s nutritional dependence on the bee, releasing the bees into nature and producing accessible quality honey, anywhere and anytime, at a fair price for the consumer.”