CHITOSE Group, Successfully Concludes Capital Increase of 21M USD Scale through Third-Party Allotment

CHITOSE BIO EVOLUTION PTE. LTD., the leader of the global bioeconomy and the headquarters of the CHITOSE Group (hereinafter “CHITOSE”), has successfully concluded a total of 21M USD new share issuances through a third-party allotment with Shiseido Company, Limited, NGK INSULATORS, LTD., Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. (*1), Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha.Ltd.,  Amano Enzyme Inc., Mers Line Pte. Ltd. (*2), Ikeda tohka Industries Co., Ltd. and SHINSHO CORPORATION. 

The funds raised will be allocated towards the expansion of the microalgae production facility and R&D of product applications in order to accelerate MATSURI, the project to build a microalgae-based industry to replace the petroleum industry. Through these commitments, CHITOSE will contribute to the realization of zero carbon emissions and work together with others toward a prosperous future that will last beyond a thousand years.
^*1 _{Investment by Mitsui Kinzoku-SBI Material Innovation Fund with Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. as a Limited Partnership and SBI Investment as a General Partnership.}
^*2 _{Investment by Sun Sail Navigation Pte. Ltd., which belongs to the Mers Line Pte Ltd. group.}

Rationale for the Capital Increase & Use of Proceeds

CHITOSE envisions a future in which humankind can live prosperously for the next thousand years and aims to build an unprecedented microalgae-derived industry. Working in collaboration with progressive companies and organizations spanning various sectors and industries, CHITOSE is simultaneously expanding the scale of production and developing multifaceted applications in order to promote the use of microalgae products in fuels, foods, chemical products, cosmetics, and feedstuffs that support people’s lives.

In terms of scale-up of microalgae production facilities, following completion of a 0.1 hectare facility in August 2018, CHITOSE successfully inaugurated a 5 hectare-facility named CHITOSE Carbon Capture Central (C4) in April 2023. CHITOSE plans to expand it further to a scale of 2,000 hectares by 2030 and 10 million hectares by 2050. In the current fiscal year, CHITOSE has just launched the 2,000 hectare-project, of which the initial 100 hectare-facility development along with the R&D of various applications have been selected as a commissioned project by the Green Innovation Fund / Promotion of Carbon Recycling Using CO₂ from Biomanufacturing Technology as a Direct Raw Material (*3) of NEDO (*4).

^*3 _{About the Green Innovation Fund Project / Promotion of Carbon Recycling Using CO2 from Biomanufacturing Technology as a Direct Raw Material https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/en/project/bio-manufacturing-technology/}
^*4 _{New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization}

Future Procurement Plans
Growing expectations for stable procurement of resources and contribution to sustainable manufacturing enabled us to achieve our target of 20M USD for the current fiscal year during the first half of the year. Responding to strong market demand, CHITOSE intends to continue vigorous dialogue with investors in the second half of the year and beyond.
*Note: All figures are the exchange value of the USD calculated as of September 8, 2023.

Stakeholder’s Comments

Shiseido Company, Limited: Under our mission of “BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD,” our company is committed to developing cosmetics that are not only good for the skin, but also promotes a healthy and beautiful natural environment. We are working with the CHITOSE Group to build a circular model, maximizing the potential of “algae,” and integrating it into the earth’s system, ensuring resources are not depleted. We will lead the creation of sustainable value, thereby revitalizing the global cosmetics market.

NGK Insulators, LTD., a member of MATSURI, is encouraged to develop algae business that contributes to carbon neutrality with our unique ceramic technologies. NGK and CHITOSE Group will extend our collaboration to realize social implementation of the bio industry.

Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. is working to co-create a value chain for bio-manufacturing by applying our unique catalyst, separation and purification technologies in order to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha believes that algae can be a solution to the global food and energy problems, and this investment is in line with our long-term management vision. We will work closely with the MATSURI project and contribute to the development of the algae business with our technology.   

Mers Line Pte. Ltd.: With the utilization of microalgae, a carbon-free society is just around the corner. We sympathize with the philosophy of CHITOSE Group, “To live in abundance beyond the next millennium using the ability of living things” and support their activities.

Ikeda tohka Industries Co.,Ltd.: As a food ingredient manufacturer with over 100 years of history, we harness our cultivated food processing technology to convert algae biomass into a usable form for industries. Through this, we support the creation of a sustainable and carbon-neutral society.

Shinsho Corporation: Through this investment, we intend to collaborate with CHITOSE Group, in order to build a new resource-recycling business model through carbon recycling and new business development using microalgae.

About the MATSURI project

The MATSURI project (https://matsuri-partners.chitose-bio.com/en) aims towards the establishment of an advanced microalgae-based industry. CHITOSE has considerable expertise in large-scale photosynthetic production technologies, and is leading the MATSURI project collaborating with Japanese progressive enterprises. As what MATSURI means in Japanese, CHITOSE keeps leading a festival to develop a sustainable society. 

Source

Chitose Group, press release, 2023-09-12.

Supplier

Chitose Group
Ikeda tohka Industries Co.
Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha Ltd.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co.
NGK Insulators, LTD.
Shinsho Corporation

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