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James Wu

Investment Notes: Hoofprint Biome

Mind Your Carbon Hoofprint

Twynam is thrilled to announce our investment in Hoofprint Biome. Founders Kathryn Polkhoff and Scott Collins engineer a probiotic that naturally prevents methane production in ruminants.


Dr Kathryn Polkoff and Dr Scott Collins, co-founders of Hoofprint Biome in Raleigh North Carolina, are developing a probiotic that aims reduce enteric methane emissions by over 80%.

The Burping Cow Problem

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 28x more warming potential than carbon dioxide.


As ruminants such as cattle and sheep eat, the food fermented in their stomach releases methane (usually as belches - or burps). Research estimates that cows belch on average 100kg CH4 per year.


With over 1.5 billion cattle worldwide, the enteric methane problem is immense, contributing to 11% - 17% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. This will only grow as meat consumption from ruminant animals is expected to increase by about 90% by 2050.


To add to this, the methane released represents a significant loss of energy for an animal, negatively impacting productivity. In fact, 6 - 10% of gross energy consumed by ruminants is lost to methanogens.


A Two-Decade Methane Journey

Twynam’s history in agriculture is deep and we have long been aware of the negative effects of ruminant methane. In the late 1990s, Twynam funded a research project with CSIRO to develop anti-methane vaccines and unfortunately that vaccine itself unfortunately wasn’t viable. But this instigated a 20 year global search for something that was.


Since then we’ve travelled the world, looking at seaweed, fermentation, other vaccines, and even hardware devices, but nothing to date has ever come close to what the team at Hoofprint have developed.


A Whole New Biome

Hoofprint has discovered novel enzymes that naturally prevent methane production. They are developing a probiotic that releases these enzymes in the cow’s stomach to cut methane emissions and this microbiome improvement also benefits animal health and nutrition.


Hoofprint's solution is long-lasting, unaffected by growers supply chain and they have the unique ability to rapidly iterate. By using a probiotic yeast, Hoofprint can offer a product that is scalable, affordable, and increases farm profitability.


This is a significant technological breakthrough in decarbonising meat and dairy industries.


Hoofprint received funding earlier this year with AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture of major New Zealand agribusiness companies and the government.


Our Investment

We're excited to leverage our agricultural roots to support the team as we tackle this massive problem. The company’s innovative approach, defensible IP portfolio, and potential for scalability make it a standout in the sector.


We’re proud to be joining team Hoofprint for the next stages of their journey.


Questions? Get in touch at mail@twynam.com



Twynam Funds Management Pty Ltd ACN 665 482 119 (Twynam Funds Management) is a corporate authorised representative (CAR) (CAR Number 1302016) of Boutique Capital Pty Ltd ACN 621 697 621 (Boutique Capital) AFSL 508011.

Any information or advice is general advice only and has been prepared by Twynam Funds Management for individuals identified as wholesale investors for the purposes of providing a financial product or financial service, under Section 761G or Section 761GA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Any information or advice given does not take into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs and before acting on the advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. If any advice relates to the acquisition, or possible acquisition, of a particular financial product you should read any relevant Product Disclosure Statement or like instrument and consult your own professional advisers about legal, tax, financial or other matters relevant to the suitability of this information.

 

Any investment(s) summarised are subject to known and unknown risks, some of which are beyond the control of Twynam Funds Management and their directors, employees, advisers or agents. Twynam Funds Management does not guarantee any particular rate of return or the performance, nor does Twynam Funds Management and its directors personally guarantee the repayment of capital or any particular tax treatment. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

 

All investments carry some level of risk, and there is typically a direct relationship between risk and return. We describe what steps we take to mitigate risk (where possible) in the investment documentation, which must be read prior to investing. It is important to note that risk cannot be mitigated completely.

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