Clean Food Group has raised £4.5 million in funding, led by Clean Growth Fund and new investor New Agrarian. Existing investors SEED Innovations and Döhler Group also took part. In addition, the company received a £700,000 non-dilutive grant from Innovate UK.
This funding round is set up as a convertible loan note. SEED Innovations confirmed this in a stock exchange filing, though it was not included in the press release. The note has a 12% annual coupon, matures in August 2027, and will convert at a 20% discount to the price of a future equity raise.
The funding will help CFG expand its fermentation facility in Knowsley, Liverpool. This one-million-litre site was bought in September 2025 from Algal Omega 3 Ltd after that company went into administration.
The founders and the technology
CFG was started in early 2022 by Alex Neves, Tom Ellen, and Ed McDermott (Co-Chairman). All three previously worked as executives at EMMAC Life Sciences, which Curaleaf bought for about $400 million in 2021. Professor Chris Chuck, who spent more than 10 years developing fermentation technology at the University of Bath, joined as a technical co-founder after the team licensed his intellectual property from the university.
The CLEAN OilCell technology uses a non-GMO yeast strain called Metschnikowia pulcherrima, which was first found on wine grapes. This yeast turns food waste into useful oils and fats through fermentation. Bread waste, mainly from a partnership with Roberts Bakery, is the main ingredient.
The yeast cells are about 40% oil and can produce various types of oils and fats, from liquids to semi-solids to hard fats, making the platform very flexible. CFG uses retrofitted food-grade fermentation equipment instead of expensive pharmaceutical-grade bioreactors, which they see as a major cost advantage over competitors who use less robust or GMO yeast strains.
CFG’s first commercial product, CLEAN Oil 25, was approved for use in cosmetics in the UK, EU, and US in 2025. Applications for food and pet nutrition are still being reviewed by regulators. The company is working with THG Labs, Croda, and Döhler Group on commercial development and has built a demand pipeline with FMCG and ingredient manufacturers.
Its direct competitors include NoPalm Ingredients, Äio, and C16 Biosciences.
