LyteGro

After a great trip to Denver I am now exploring the North Carolina Research Triangle. Just back from a great day spent touring some very impressive facilities here in Raleigh North Carolina. My host/chauffeur for the day was Rachel Burton, a thoroughly delightful (innovation crazy) industrial biotech entrepreneur who I have had the pleasure of working with for the past 12 months. With Rachel I visited the N.C. State Plant Sciences Initiative to have a nosey around their new state of the art incubator facilities before taking a very short walk to see the equally impressive Golden Leaf Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center. We then set off for a short drive to the Alexandria AgTech Campus to explore their startup incubator which, not to sound like a broken record, was very impressive too. My take home was that the facilities and ecosystem here in the NCR triangle are second to none and that this is somewhere where LyteGro should aspire to do business. Rachel then drove us down to The Plant, formerly the home of Rachel's biodiesel production startup but now a delightful home for artisan brewing, distilling and food enterprises - with a real focus on field to fork and being a hub for the Pittsboro community. After a quick browse around the local farmers market we grabbed ourselves a pint of artisan beer from BMC brewing and a huge plateful of some of the best smoked meats and BBQed Brussel sprouts (!!!) that I have ever eaten. Shout out to Tucker at Lilly Den Food Truck!!!! I met some lovely people there (and a truly huge dog called Zeus) and left having felt the warmth of good 'ol Southern hospitality. I can't wait to go back. Rachel and I have a full day tomorrow meeting fermentation startups, potential investors and Brian Bednar, one of LyteGro's investors so I hope that tomorrow proves to be just as fun as today. Finally, a huge thank you to Rachel for all her help in putting together a great itinerary and for putting up with my conversation/jokes and general excitement all day.

On the list... come meet us in Singapore next month.

Its always nice to see a friendly face after 18hrs of travel 😁 I finally arrived in Denver after a long and very tiring trip over here for my big day presenting our bananas idea to improve bioleaching at the the Colorado Cleantech Mining Challenge tomorrow. After checking into the hotel I had a quick shower before heading off to meet Scott Perkins of Vitek Microgenix who I had a great time with on the Innovate UK GBIP trip to Singapore last November. Scott relocated here 3 weeks ago and got in touch after seeing my previous post on our being finalists at the Mining Challenge. Long story short, 10 months later and with venues 9058 miles apart we got to meet again after not managing to do so back in the UK. Anyway, we had a quick meal and a couple of pints whilst reminiscing about our trip to Singapore and all that has happened for both of us since. Scott passes on all his best wishes to all that were with us in Singapore and asks that they get in touch. Scott is doing great and Denver really seems to be the land of opportunity for his businesses. Best of luck to him and I hope to see him again very soon if we are lucky enough to get our proposed mining project underway over here this year.

LyteGro are off to Denver to explain how waste bananas can improve the sustainability of the mining sector! Whilst it seems a bit of a stretch to join the dots here, trust me as the power of bananas can enable the growth of sustainable mining practices across the world by using microbes to capture precious metals from low grade (previously uneconomic to extract) ore which has already been mined in the billions of tons. LyteGro were chosen by Colorado Cleantech as one of 12 international companies to present at the eighth annual Mining Cleantech Challenge (MCC) on October 1st, 2024. The Mining Cleantech Challenge is one in a series of Cleantech Challenge technology scouting programs that connect large industry partners directly to innovative clean technology solutions. Submissions were reviewed, applicants vetted, and then 12 companies selected by sponsors as finalists to present during the program. Finalists will pitch their technologies to major mining companies and investors represented by the program partners. Colorado Cleantech developed the Mining Cleantech Challenge in partnership with an internationally recognized team of industry leaders, including Sumitomo Corporation of the Americas, Royal Gold, Fresnillo, Fortescue, the Colorado School of Mines, Clareo Partners, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and the Colorado Energy Office. Companies selected to present this year are: American Battery Technology Cheesecake Energy Ltd CH4 Microbial Solutions DEVIC EARTH PRIVATE LIMITED Eden GeoPower KPI Mining Solutions 🍌 Lytegro Limited 🍌 Membrion Inc. NextOre Ltd PMAP Mine Water Corporation Skywise AI Special Power Sources "This year's Mining Cleantech Challenge showcases an impressive array of innovative technology applications," said Laura Hickernell, Colorado Cleantech's executive director. "Congratulations to the companies selected to present at the 2024 Mining Cleantech Challenge. Their participation marks a significant step forward in integrating cutting-edge technologies into the mining industry." Wish us luck as this could be a fantastic opportunity for us to not only help the banana industry but to help decarbonise mining too!

LyteGro are back off to Singapore! Following last year's successful trip as part of Innovate UK's Global Business Innovation Program we have been fortunate to be selected as one of 5 companies taking part in the much more involved Global Incubator Program. Our aims for this exciting and intensive program are to meet potential production partners across ASEAN and to develop Singapore and beyond for launching our distilling, R&D and protein/vaccine products in early 2025. Really looking forward to grabbing this opportunity with both hands! Andy #Innovateuk #growAG #innovation

Always nice to get noticed - apparently we are one of 12 companies to check out in the Microbiome space in 2024. They got a few details wrong - omitting my co-founder Mark Lyte and stating that we had taken on $2.2m (not quite) but they got the gist right and my friend and investor Paul Finch got name checked!!! Global Corporate Venturing Updated: Twelve human microbiome startups to watch Mar 26, 2024 • Roshini Bains Advances in gene sequencing technology and computational power are giving researchers and healthcare professionals an increasingly detailed view of how the human microbiome works. It is creating new opportunities for startups. Every month, new technologies are discovered and new startups are formed. Last year we brought you the most exciting startups emerging in the field . Now we have updated the list for 2024. https://lnkd.in/esGmq4Vs

*** ON THE WAY TO OUR FIRST PARTNERSHIP *** LyteGro and Sweeter Banana Cooperative are delighted to announce that we have recently signed a Letter of Intent to explore the building of a production facility in Carnarvon, Western Australia which will utilise Sweeter’s banana waste to produce LyteGro’s microbial growth enhancers. LyteGro is set to start a Feasibility Study in Australia which will assess the economic and environmental impact of the proposed plant and will produce test materials which can then be evaluated by prospective customers such as distillers, yeast & probiotic producers and bioenergy companies. The results of the study will then be used to support investment in a joint venture which will build and operate a plant which annually converts 250 tons of Sweeter’s waste bananas into 100,000 litres of LyteGro product. If feasibility is proven then the project is targeting Q3 2025 to start the build of the plant. LyteGro's CEO, Andrew Lee stated, “This is a major first step for LyteGro in our mission to find international partners to produce and sell our game-changing products worldwide. We aim to transform banana waste into a truly valuable resource which can add significant value to the banana industry and growing communities which are struggling with increased waste as a result of climate change and at the same time seeing prices being driven down by exporters and supermarkets.” “Whilst it’s a long way from our base in Leicester (UK) Australia’s appetite for innovation combined with its growing biotech market, legal system and business support mechanisms make this the ideal place for our first partnership” Doriana Mangili, Business Manager at Sweeter states, "At Sweeter Banana, our mission has always been to ensure every banana we grow is utilized effectively. Our collaboration with LyteGro will not only repurpose surplus and waste bananas but also generate extra income for our members and create a new industry and jobs, bringing environmental, economic, and social advantages to our co-operative and Carnarvon." Andrew is set to visit Australia in August to finalise the arrangements for the Feasibility Study to start in Q4 2024.

Innovation Zero - what a great event. I am writing this sat on the train heading back to Leicester after a great day out at the Innovation Zero expo @ Olympia. The event showcases the best of UK cleantech innovations alongside companies and national & regional organisations leading the transition to Net Zero. LyteGro were part of the "Innovation Zero Awards Showcase" and received a lot of interest in what we are trying to do with the world's banana waste. There was the opportunity to set up partnering meetings too and I met some fantastic contacts from the UK and EU in the bioenergy field, sustainable venture finance and fermentation industries. I also got the chance to meet up with my friend Paul Finch @ Growth Studio for a bite of lunch and a chance to learn what they are up to. He also did some free business development for me in making some really valuable connections with the British Infrastructure Bank and Biogas companies which could prove useful to our plans to conquer the waste-to-energy sector. I now have lots of follow up to look forward to tomorrow but I don't mind being a victim of my own (and Paul's) success! #innovationzero #wastetoenergy #growthstudio

Nice to be noticed and even better to be listed as "one to watch" https://lnkd.in/erNKvRGR

Nice to see they caught my good side! Awful picture - but they say all publicity is good publicity. Hope you like the article as plans are definitely afoot in Australia.....