The Oriens Capital Private Equity Fund LP and Bluelab Holdings Limited agreed to an unconditional investment transaction on 31 July 2018 which will see Oriens Capital provide equity funding to the business to enable it to pursue growth initiatives and to provide some liquidity to existing shareholders.
Following completion, Oriens Capital will be a significant minority investor in Bluelab and will be represented on the board by its executive team member, Peter Tinholt.
The equity funding will be utilised by the business to drive further innovation and product development within Bluelab, and to bolster sales and marketing capability in its export market of focus, the United States.
About Bluelab
Bluelab is a Tauranga based agri-tech business that designs and assembles innovative electronic products which measure and control inputs including temperature, pH and conductivity in controlled environment agriculture (“CEA”) systems. It has also recently entered the broader horticulture sector where its products measure inputs in soil and other media (coco coir, compost, rockwool, moss etc.) utilised to grow plants.
Bluelab has a strong export focus with its major markets being in the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands and Spain. Its end customers include home gardening enthusiasts through to large scale commercial growers, and its products have a strong reputation for quality and reliability, and the Bluelab brand is well recognised and trusted within its core markets.
Bluelab is well positioned to capitalise on the strong growth of the CEA and mixed media sectors, which are benefiting from a focus on productivity and efficiency in food production and plant growing.
The business has well established governance systems and processes, which are of very high quality for a business of its size. It is led by founders Greg and Mandy Jarvis, who were recent recipients of the Service to Export Award at the 2018 Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards Ceremony.
Oriens Capital will provide capital, governance and strategic support to enable Bluelab to grow utilising its strengths in innovation of high quality products and its strong brand in core markets.