Australian climate tech company Rumin8 seeks to reduce livestock methane emissions.
An Australian startup that makes feed additives for livestock to reduce their methane emissions has caught the attention of billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and its climate tech investing fund.
Rumin8 closed Phase 2 of its seed funding round, led by Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
The second seed round was especially conducted to accommodate BEV, which came knocking after the first one was closed. Harvest Road, western Australia-based agri-food business, also participated this time. And investors from the first phase of fundraising, Australian-based Aware Super Sentient WA Growth Fund and US-based Prelude Ventures, both added to their shareholding.
The news comes just months after Rumin8 opened its first US office in San Francisco, in November 2022. Attracting funds was one of the startup’s main reasons for setting up shop halfway across the world another reason cited was proximity to a large market of sophisticated beef and dairy industry participants seeking to reduce their impact on global warming.
The demand for sustainable protein has never been more apparent, which is why BEV is keenly interested in reducing methane emissions from beef and dairy, Carmichael Roberts, who co-leads BEV’s investments, said. Rumin8 offers a low cost, scalable toolbox that has already proven to be effective in reducing emissions. Our team will support Rumin8 in working closely with farmers to expand the reach of this solution globally.
Rumin8 marks Gates’ first investment in an Australian venture with Breakthrough Energy, but when it comes to climate tech-startups overall, it’s one among hundreds. We’re invested now in over 100 startups. This one here in Australia, Rumin8, I think it’s the 103rd, Gates said in an interview in Sydney with Michael Fullilove, executive director of the think-tank Lowy Institute, on Monday.
No matter how effective a product is, the cattle has to ingest it for it to work its magic. That’s why Rumin8 is running a “calfeteria” of sorts a livestock trial at the University of New England where its testing which ration cattle find more palatable and more likely to eat, and how the formulation they choose impacts reductions in methane generation.
If cattle won’t eat a ration because they don’t like a particular dose rate or formulation, then it doesn’t matter how effective the feed additive is at reducing methane generation because it won’t be ingested by the animal and farmers won’t use it because it limits weight gain in their cattle, said Rumin8 chief Messina.