RCS - Agronomics Limited - Investee Company Update: Liberation Labs

AgronomicsAnnouncement

12/04/2023 12:00

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RNS Number : 9964V  Agronomics Limited  12 April 2023

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) (http://www.liberationlabs.com/)
Liberation Labs (http://www.liberationlabs.com/) , 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
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-launch-a-national-biotechnology-and-biomanufacturing-initiative/)
National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-launch-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 (http://www.liberationlabs.com/)
www.liberationlabs.com (http://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           Beaumont              Canaccord             Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital

 Limited              Cornish Limited       Genuity Limited       Securities Plc        Limited               TB Cardew
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts          Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams          Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Harry Rees            Max Gould             Charles Goodfellow    Alistair Walker

                                            Alex Aylen            Michael Johnson

                                            (Head of Equities)
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +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

 info@agronomics.im                                                                                           +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                                              agronomics@tbcardew.com

 

 

 

 

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