Agbiotech spin-off receives $2.3 million

A new Univ of Alberta spin-off has received $2.3 million in venture capital from AVAC Ltd, Calgary and Foragen Technologies Management Inc, Saskatoon. Ceven Bioproducts Inc was created to commercialize new grain fractionation technology developed at the U of A by Dr Feral Temelli and Dr Thava Vasanthan. The technology when applied to cereal grains yields high-value components such as beta-glucan, a dietary fibre and an ingredient in food and health products currently limited by its high cost of production. Research on the fractionation technology was supported by the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute and Alberta Barley Commission. AVAC is a not-for-profit private firm investing in value-added agricultural commodities and Foragen is a private seed capital and management firm….