Investment opportunity

Capitalising the first modern cashew processor at origin.

Phase I brings shelling, grading and packing onshore in Guinea-Bissau, capturing a margin that leaves the country today with the raw nut. Equity and convertible loan note participation is open to professional and institutional investors.

In brief

A high-yield origin that has yet to industrialise.

Guinea-Bissau harvests roughly 210,000 tonnes of raw cashew nut each year, among the highest crops per capita anywhere, and exports almost all of it unshelled for processing in Asia. The shelling, grading and packing margin, together with the employment and tax base it would create, leaves the country with the nut.

Bissau Kernel Co. is building a semi-automated processing facility in Bissau. Phase I takes 15,000 tonnes of raw cashew nut a year and yields roughly 3,450 tonnes of export-grade kernels, produced to international food-safety standards including a non-thermal pasteurisation step, and shipped to demand-confirmed markets in Northern Europe and the Gulf.

Phase I at a glance

The headline figures.

15,000 tpa: Raw cashew nut throughput, Phase I
~3,450 tpa: Export-grade kernel capacity
~£5.34m: Steady-state EBITDA, 25.1% margin
~22.6%: Unlevered project IRR
~£13.2m: Phase I capital sought, ~US$16.2m
50,000 tpa: Planned capacity at full build-out

Restricted material

Register to read the full opportunity.

The investment case, modelled returns, use of funds, indicative terms and the downloadable teaser are released to professional and institutional investors. Five details are all we ask for, and the page opens immediately.

The investment case

Why this project, in this origin, now.

A proven model in an underserved origin

At-origin cashew processing is already established at scale elsewhere in West Africa, where a neighbouring producer grew capacity roughly five-fold between 2018 and 2024 with multilateral backing. Phase I applies that validated template in a high-yield origin that has yet to industrialise.

Value retained in-country

The shelling, grading and packing margin that presently leaves with the raw nut is captured domestically. Cashew nut shell liquid recovery and EU organic certification sit outside the base case as defined upside levers.

A capital-efficient entry

A right-sized, semi-automated line lands the plant at a fraction of conventional build cost, so the raise can be met by a single investor or blended across equity, convertible notes, development-finance debt and grant.

Mandate-aligned impact

Formal manufacturing employment with a majority-female workforce, rural income drawn from smallholder cashew farmers, and import substitution map cleanly to the mandates of institutional and impact capital.

Returns as modelled

Steady state, from year four.

Metric	£	US$
Steady-state revenue	~£21.3m	~US$26.2m
Steady-state EBITDA	~£5.34m	~US$6.57m
EBITDA margin	25.1%	—
Net income	~£3.15m	~US$3.88m
Unlevered project IRR	~22.6%	—

How to read this

The figures are unlevered, so they hold whatever the funding mix. An all-equity investor earns this return. Adding development-finance debt, priced at around 7.25% and well below the project return, is accretive and lifts equity returns above the unlevered figure.

Upside levers are excluded from the base case: EU organic certification, direct cooperative sourcing, cashew nut shell liquid recovery, and the path to 50,000 tonnes a year.

Capital required

Phase I use of funds.

Use of funds	£	US$
Plant, equipment and building	£8.5m	US$10.5m
Opening working capital	£0.2m	US$0.2m
Seasonal raw cashew nut facility (revolving)	£4.5m	US$5.5m
Total capital sought	£13.2m	US$16.2m

Structure

The structure is deliberately open. The full requirement can be taken up by a single investor, or blended across equity, convertible loan notes, development-finance debt and grant. The £4.5m seasonal facility is revolving and self-liquidates against each harvest.

Phase I is the entry tranche of a planned expansion to 50,000 tonnes a year.

Indicative terms

Equity or convertible loan note, at your election.

Instrument: Equity or convertible loan note, at the investor's election
Coupon: 10% PIK, rolled, on the convertible loan note
Conversion: 20% discount to the qualifying priced round
Capital sought: ~£13.2m (~US$16.2m) in total, in whole or in part
Use of proceeds: Plant and equipment, utilities, working capital, pre-operating costs
Optionality: Pro-rata rights into the Phase II and Phase III expansion programme

Terms are indicative and will be set out in full in the definitive Information Memorandum and constitutional documents.

Impact

Built to an institutional development mandate.

Around 200 direct manufacturing jobs, with a workforce that is approximately 70% female
Raw material drawn from Guinea-Bissau's smallholder cashew farmers, paid through structured buying channels
Import substitution and a widened domestic tax base as processed volume replaces raw export
A defined share of operating profit committed to a registered local public-interest foundation

Alignment

SDG 1 · No Poverty
SDG 5 · Gender Equality
SDG 8 · Decent Work
SDG 9 · Industry
SDG 12 · Responsible Production

Process

From first contact to subscription.

Register your interest

Your registration is complete and the full opportunity is unlocked. Review the investment case, modelled returns and use of funds below, then request the full presentation when you are ready.

Receive the full pack under NDA

Qualified investors receive the Information Memorandum, the financial model and data-room access once an NDA is in place.

Meet the management team

Sessions with the founding shareholder and the operating team covering procurement, processing, offtake and governance.

Complete due diligence in Bissau

Site visits, technical review, legal and tax confirmation, and documentation ahead of subscription.

Documents

Download the investment materials.

Two-page summary

Investment teaser

The opportunity, Phase I figures, modelled returns, use of funds, indicative terms and impact, on two pages.

PDF · 102 KB

Full deck

Investment presentation

Market structure, procurement, processing design, offtake pipeline, financial model summary and governance, in full.

Available on request

Request the presentation

The remainder of this page is reserved for registered investors

Investor relations

Open a conversation with the team building it.

Tell us the mandate you invest from and the size of participation you are considering. We respond within two working days, and qualified investors receive the Information Memorandum, financial model and data-room access under NDA.

Direct line: investors@bissaukernel.com

Important notice

This page is issued for information only to professional and institutional investors and persons of suitable sophistication. It is not an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any security, nor a financial promotion approved under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and must not be relied upon in connection with any investment decision. Any offer will be made solely through the definitive Information Memorandum and constitutional documents, which contain the full terms and the risk factors to which the investment is subject. Figures are indicative, drawn from management projections and third-party estimates; they are not audited, are subject to material change, and forward-looking statements carry no assurance of outcome. Investments of this nature involve significant risk, including currency, country and execution risk and the total loss of capital, and are illiquid. Recipients should take independent legal, tax and financial advice. Distribution may be restricted by law and recipients must observe such restrictions.