Investee Company Update: Liberation Labs
12.00pm 12th April 2023
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Liberation Labs Secures $30 Million in Equipment Funding for
First Biomanufacturing Facility
Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that Liberation Labs Holdings Inc ("Liberation Labs"), the large-scale precision fermentation contract manufacturer, has secured $30 million in equipment funding for the first dedicated, purpose-built, commercial precision fermentation plant globally for food production.
The Company has invested a total of US $7.63 million since Liberation Labs' inception, which is currently carried at US $25.4m, with this accounting for approximately 11.4% of the last published Net Asset Value of Agronomics (31.12.22). Agronomics has an equity ownership of 37.4% on a fully diluted basis in Liberation Labs.
The full announcement is set out below without any material changes:
Funding advances project development for a new facility that will be the first purpose-built commercial precision fermentation plant in the United States.
RICHMOND, Ind. (Embargo until April 12, 2023) Liberation Labs , industrial biotech's fabrication partner, has secured $30 million in equipment financing to advance development of its first commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility in Richmond, Indiana. The new facility will have a fermentation capacity of 600,000 liters with a fully dedicated downstream process (DSP). Ground breaking is expected in June 2023 with initial plant startup by the end of 2024.
Liberation Labs is focused on enabling the commercial availability of bioproducts that will meet the growing demand from existing major CPG and ingredient brands as well as from the emerging crop of precision fermentation-focused startups. The new facility will be the first purpose-built commercial-scale precision fermentation plant in the United States. The company has commenced the detailed design engineering phase and has placed orders for all of the major engineered equipment, including its 150,000 litre fermenters and DSP separation and drying units, all while continuing to build out the engineering and operations teams.
"This new financing, combined with our seed raise, allows us to not only secure all the needed equipment, but also to continue investing in our team to move the overall project forward at speed,"
said Mark Warner, co-founder and CEO of Liberation Labs. "Traditionally it is challenging to secure this kind of financing for a first-of-a-kind facility, but this lease reflects the belief in our vision and strong team by our committed equity and equipment finance investors."
The facility comes at a time of increasing focus on both the importance of a domestic biorefining industry, and the current lack of major projects. In September 2022, President Biden launched a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative designed to stimulate development and create domestic jobs, build stronger supply chains, lower costs for Americans. The new facility, the first in the US fully dedicated to novel bioproducts, could catalyze market demand, commercializing innovation among food, chemical and materials biotechnology companies and their associated economic, health and environmental benefits.
About Liberation Labs
Liberation Labs is commercialising precision fermentation with a global network of purpose-built, international manufacturing facilities that enable the next wave of biotechnology advancements to produce bio-based consumer products at scale. We combine modern technology with fit-for-purpose design to bring reliable and cost-effective solutions that meet customer demand across the world. More information is available at www.liberationlabs.com .
Media Contact
John Williams, Scoville PR for Liberation Labs
+1-206-660-5503, jwilliams@scovillepr.com
About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals and be fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/.
About Cellular Agriculture
Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter or growing crops. This encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology, synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify production methods in a sustainable manner.
Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists' claims that if we maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.
AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food Institute's estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in order to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating, however, still less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the industry's inception in 2016.
For further information please contact:
|
Agronomics Limited |
Beaumont Cornish Limited |
Canaccord Genuity Limited |
Cenkos Securities Plc |
Peterhouse Capital Limited |
TB Cardew |
|
The Company |
Nomad |
Joint Broker |
Joint Broker |
Joint Broker |
Public Relations |
|
Richard Reed Denham Eke |
Roland Cornish James Biddle |
Andrew Potts Harry Rees Alex Aylen (Head of Equities) |
Giles Balleny Max Gould Michael Johnson |
Lucy Williams Charles Goodfellow |
Ed Orlebar Alistair Walker |
|
+44 (0) 1624 639396 info@agronomics.im |
+44 (0) 207 628 3396 |
+44 (0) 207 523 8000 |
+44 (0) 207 397 8900 |
+44 (0) 207 469 0936 |
+44 (0) 20 7930 0777 +44 (0) 7738 724 630 agronomics@tbcardew.com |
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