The Italian company Agroils Technologies SpA receives EURO 900,000 (USD 1,2 Million) as first round institutional investment from X-Capital SpA, Innogest Sgr and Jatropha 11 Srl (vehicle of ‘Italian Angels for Growth’). The funds will be used to develop a proprietary technology for the simultaneous production of biofuel, protein biomass for animal feed, and bioactives from Jatropha.
The process has been invented by Professor Dr. Roberto Crea, a pioneer in
biotechnology and one of the scientists who led to the first recombinant production of Human Insulin at Genentech in California in 1978 .
“The industrial process we intend to develop may allow us and other organisations involved in Jatropha cultivation to produce both a superior biofuel and considerable quantity of biomass to use as protein meal, significantly increasing the profitability and the sustainability of projects focused upon Jatropha and its by- products” commented Agroils Technologies CEO Giovanni Venturini Del Greco, 29 y, “The process will allow to fully exploit the capacity of Jatropha to grow in low rainfalls areas and, therefore, to allow the production of protein based feed comparable to soy meal”.
Agroils Technology’s President Prof. R. Crea added “The possibility to separate valuable multi-components from one process opens the door to substantial technological and social development opportunities. We are now in the position to develop and implement a great opportunity which, if successful, could change the future. I am grateful to our Italian financial partners who believed in our initiative.”
X Capital S.p.A – Marco Di Lorenzo: “If we had to define the identikit of the ideal company to make our first start-up financing, we could have not imagined anything better than AGROILS TECHNOLOGIES. A market with an enormous potential, a proprietary technology, a young and brilliant entrepreneur, a scientist of international fame, experienced co-investors and, last but not least, an initiative with a global scope born in Florence, our beloved city, where it will continue to be based.
Innogest Sgr – Stefano Molino: “We are glad to support this new initiative operating in a growing market, the production of biofuels from Jatropha, thanks to an innovative technology which increases the returns on investment for Jatropha producers. We believe this technology could be a game changer for the sector at global level”.
IAG – Giorgio Costacurta: “Agroils represents not only an interesting investment from a financial perspective, but also an important contribution to the growth of a socially responsible company – an issue of crucial importance to IAG partners. I would like to point out that the cultivation of Jatropha contemplates the exploitation of marginal lands, often with the purpose to fight desertification phenomena affecting entire areas of the planet: the possibility offered by Agroils’ technology to convert a bio-waste into a edible animal feed will significantly impact the countries where the food chain is still a big issue. In that sense, we consider this to be an ethical investment”.
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