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When penny shares deliver on their promises, the rewards for shareholders can be astronomical. So much so that it’s not uncommon to see relatively small initial investments supernova into life-changing wealth when a tiny enterprise proves itself.
This extreme level of potential success is why penny shares are so popular despite most failing to live up to expectations. And right now, a growing number of eyes are falling upon Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) and its 6p share price, up from around 4p 12 months ago.
Is this the next big winner for micro-cap investors?
A unique emerging industry
Let’s start with a quick introduction.
Agronomics is not a standard business. It’s actually a publicly traded venture capital investment trust that owns and manages an investment portfolio consisting exclusively of private cellular agriculture companies. These are businesses researching and developing lab-grown meats and other animal proteins, all without needing animals.
This borderline science-fiction technology has yet to enter the mainstream. But with growing concerns about long-term food supply and the environmental impacts of modern-day farming, lab-grown proteins could start making their way onto supermarket shelves in the not-too-distant future.
In fact, one of Agronomics’s flagship investments, Liberation Bioindustries, is currently nearing the completion of a brand new manufacturing facility with a production capacity of 600 to 1,200 tonnes of protein each year – roughly enough to generate an estimated $40m of annual revenue.
As a prominent shareholder in Liberation Bioindustries, that means Agronomics may soon start seeing a significant return on its investment if performance meets expectations.
What’s more, with stock trading at close to a 56% discount to the combined net asset value (NAV) of all its investments, Agronomics may soon see its share price surge even higher!
What could go wrong?
Even with commercial production starting to emerge from its investment portfolio, Agronomics remains a hugely speculative investment in 2026, more so than most penny stocks.
Why? Because the market for bioengineered proteins remains largely unproven. And while a massive discount to NAV may seem like it provides a margin of safety, it’s important to recognise that private valuations are notoriously unreliable and volatile.
A perfect example of this unproven commercialisation and NAV risk is the Agronomics investment in Meatable. Despite previously being valued at £11.9m, Meatable ultimately failed, and its value collapsed to zero, with Agronomics losing its entire £7.9m of previously invested capital.
With most of the companies in the portfolio being start-up enterprises, more failures like this will no doubt emerge. And if a flagship project like Liberation Bioindustries fails, the entire investment thesis could collapse.
The bottom line
Today, Agronomics presents a unique opportunity for investors to diversify into the nascent cellular agricultural industry. If this sector evolves into a key player of food supply chains, the rewards could be immense. If it fails, investors will likely be left with nothing.
Needless to say, this binary outcome means buying this penny share is extremely risky. And as someone who invests rather than speculates, this isn’t a micro-cap I’m rushing to buy right now. Instead, I’ve spotted some far more promising micro-cap opportunities with much more attractive risk-to-reward ratios.
