Circularity Capital supports Cocogreen® with growth capital investment
Circularity Capital has continued to build its portfolio of European growth stage businesses enabling the circular economy with a growth capital investment in Cocogreen®, the global leader in the design and manufacture of low-carbon, high-yield coir growth substrate for berries, salads, citrus fruit and avocadoes.
The company’s products are manufactured using a by-product of the global coconut industry, which is refined using proprietary product and process technologies. This provides a superior growing medium for agricultural customers growing berries, fruits, and other fresh food end markets.
In addition to improved nutrient distribution, minimising water use and delivering a higher production yield profile, Cocogreen®’s product has a significantly smaller carbon footprint than associated incumbent peat based growing media. Moreover, the use of peat has started to be phased out by regulators due to the negative impact of harvesting peatland, which act as a hugely powerful global carbon sink.[1]
Circularity Capital’s investment will see the growth equity specialist play a driving role in supporting the management team, as Cocogreen® further accelerates its international expansion and the replacement of incumbent carbon-intensive products. David Mowat, partner at Circularity Capital, has joined the board of Cocogreen® to support the business going forward.
David Mowat commented: “This is a very exciting time for Cocogreen®. The company’s market-leading, commercially proven solution has allowed it to disrupt traditional, linear competitors and create a blue-chip client base whose demand vastly outstrips current manufacturing capacity. Growing adoption of Cocogreen®’s solutions will help accelerate the transition towards a more circular food industry by displacing peat and stonewool, while allowing management to deliver strong growth across established customers and new markets alike.”
Dr Sudesh Fernando, founder of Cocogreen®, added: “Cocogreen® has set the benchmark as the market leader in the design and delivery of a sustainable, consistent and high performance growth substrate. As a result, we’ve grown our loyal customer base across the globe, who expect nothing less than high-quality and reliable products delivering enhanced crop performance. Ensuring a positive impact across the local environment and communities within which the business operates is a core element of the Cocogreen® mission as we support our team who work each day to help build a better future.”
Thomas Ogden, co-founder and group commercial director at Cocogreen®, concluded: “It was really important to find an investor who not only shared our mission, values and ambition, but also had the specialist expertise to support a founder-led business like Cocogreen® as we continue to expand as a global leader in the delivery of highly-innovative, sustainable coir-based crop growth substrates.
“Circularity Capital’s knowledge, expertise, skills and network is completely unique and will prove pivotal to our growth trajectory. They appreciate our pioneering solutions, see our hugely positive ESG impact and will help to bring additional insight to our experienced team as the business continues to rapidly expand.”
Cocogreen® were advised by KPMG, Deloitte and Eversheds, with Circularity Capital advised by CMS, PA Consulting, DNV and Eunomia.
ENDS
[1] Peatlands are major carbon stores; a near natural bog can remove ~3.5 tonnes CO2e per hectare per year (t CO2e /ha/yr); as such, the 20% of UK peatlands in a near natural state are currently sequestering 1,800 ktCO2e yr in total. It is estimated that UK peatlands currently store more than 3 billion tonnes of carbon, this is the same as all carbon stored in the forests of the UK, Germany and France combined.