Tate & Lyle's new venture capital fund has just invested in its first business after investigating more than 50 potential opportunities in Europe and the US since its launch last summer.
The first firm to take a chunk of T&L's cash is UK-based food safety diagnostics company Lumora, which has developed a low-cost DNA-based test that will identify and measure specific food-borne pathogens within hours.
This is much faster than traditional culture-based systems and cheaper than other DNA-based techniques, claimed T&L Ventures managing partner David Atkinson.
It can also detect minute quantities of GM material and assess the provenance of natural ingredients. The fund is looking to invest £1M - £3M in each of up to 10 companies focused on nutritional and functional foods, biofuels and developing manufacturing innovations.
Unlike funds launched by rivals, T&L Ventures is run by external specialists, but invests purely for Tate & Lyle, enabling it to tap into areas it would previously have shied away from, said Atkinson.