Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini buys another green company, this time based in Minnesota
Leonardo DiCaprio, Pope Francis, President Obama and Mathieu Flamini. Believe it or not, these four have something significant in common. The actor, the Pope, and the president all are prominent advocates of climate change and you can now add Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini to the list. It was revealed last […]

Leonardo DiCaprio, Pope Francis, President Obama and Mathieu Flamini. Believe it or not, these four have something significant in common. The actor, the Pope, and the president all are prominent advocates of climate change and you can now add Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini to the list.

It was revealed last November that Flamini co-founded a company nearly eight years ago that could potentially be worth billions of dollars. The business, GFBiochemicals, was started with his friend Pasquale Granata to produce an oil substitute called levulinic acid. The plant-based chemical is manufactured to help replace fossil fuels made in plastics, perfumes, cleaners, food preservatives and even biofuels.

Flamini teamed up with Granata while he was playing for the Italian club AC Milan in 2008. The Frenchman spent five seasons with the Rossoneri before making his return to north London in 2013 on a free transfer.

Upon finally announcing his business three months ago, Flamini claimed that few people, including his Arsenal teammates, knew about his business venture in Italy. “My Milan teammates probably found out in our launch this week and my Arsenal teammates will probably find out reading this,” said the Gunner midfielder. “I don’t think [manager] Arsene Wenger knows, I never spoke to him about it.”

On Friday, it was announced that the duo of Flamini and Granata purchased stake (production facilities and property rights) in the United States green chemical firm Segetis Inc. The Minnesota-based Segetis was founded in 2007 and has previously been the subject of many high-profile investors, including two Malaysian companies and Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

“Climate change is the biggest issue of our time and now more than ever urgent action is required,” Flamini said in the statement on Friday. “We founded GFBiochemicals with an ambition to find sustainable alternatives to oil-based products.”

Marcel van Berkel, chief commercial officer of GFBiochemicals, also stated, “The company will continue on a development path based on both organic growth via the creation of high-value partnership with major companies, as well as the potential for further acquisitions of levulinic acid’s derivative technologies.”

GFBiochemicals is headquartered in Milan, but they produce the levulinic acid at a plant in Ceserta, Italy. Flamini hopes to more than double the production of the acid within the next year.

While the midfielder is busy trying to save the world by slowing our dependence on fossil fuels, his Arsenal contract runs out at season’s end. His move back to north London in 2013 after a five-year hiatus in Italy was mostly seen as good business due to the fact that he did not cost the Gunners a transfer fee. Nevertheless, Flamini will be 32 in March and he has not performed at a high level during the current campaign.

Whether the former France international will retire from professional soccer or sign with a different club remains to be seen. Regardless of where he ends up next season, Arsenal fans are rooting for his success in his business venture with GFBiochemicals.