Hemp Innovations Launches SEIS Raise
akcela.co.uk
Akcela are delighted to announce that Hemp Innovations have opened their SEIS raise, having received advanced assurance from HMRC. Hemp Innovations will unlock the value of the UK’s hemp industry by creating industrial scale supply of hemp hurd, fibre and dust.
The team are targeting the global industrial hemp market, which was valued at US $4.7bn in 2022 and is projected to reach US $16.75bn by 2030, at a CAGR of 3.4%. Currently the UK produces just 800 hectares of Hemp annually, stifling research, development and innovation. Hemp Innovations will not only implement a profitable hemp processing plant in the UK to address current demand (which is currently satisfied by comparatively expensive and environmentally damaging imports), they will exploit their exclusive access to a patented technology to increase the quality and value of hemp. This will create access for tier one manufacturers a wide range of commercial applications.
Hemp is a high-value cover crop for farmers, proven to remediate soil quality through the lack of pesticide and fertiliser use, reduced soil erosion, conserving soil water and recycling soil nutrients (Heliyon et al, 2022). Importantly is an excellent tool in the fight against climate change, as reported in the government funded Hemp30 report, Hemp sequesters more carbon than woodland at a rate of 22 t/ha/year (Adesina et al., 2020). Utilising Hemp for products such as building materials can lock that carbon sequestration into everyday uses, ones that would usually require carbon-intensive materials such as rockwool.
“This represents the next milestone for Hemp Innovations in their journey to igniting the UK’s hemp market, ” outlined Akcela’s Managing Partner, James Adams, who highlighted the importance of Hemp as an industrial product for carbon sequestration. “Hemp truly has the power to capture and lock-in carbon on an industrial scale. The use cases for the plant and its hurd (the bark found at the core of the plant), its fibre (the strands that grow around the bark) and its dust (a by-product of the manufacturing process) are already clear. The UK has to import almost 100% of its requirement as, quite simply, we do not produce enough high quality material here in the UK. Hemp Innovations have a very defined route to the use of these materials for industrial uses.”
We wish Hemp Innovations all the very best on their upcoming SEIS raise and look forward to continuing the partnership into the future.
This article was written by Akcela to learn more visit:
www.akcela.co.uk/norfolk-based-hemp-innovations-launches-seis-raise/
