RCS - Agronomics Limited - Liberation Labs secures strategic partnership

AgronomicsAnnouncement

15/04/2025 09:00

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RNS Number : 0767F  Agronomics Limited  15 April 2025

 

  (https://agronomics.im/) Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Liberation Labs secures strategic partnership with NEOM Investment Fund

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of clean food,
is delighted to announce that its portfolio company, Liberation Labs Holdings
Inc ("Liberation Labs"), has reported a strategic partnership with NEOM
Investment Fund ("NIF") to help develop a precision-fermentation facility in
Saudi Arabia. This partnership follows NEOM's participation in Liberation
Lab's US$ 50.5 million fundraise announced on  30 January 2025.
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/xqp9ykw)

 

The partnership will set the foundation for Liberation Labs to support Topian,
NEOM's dedicated food company, in designing and developing an advanced
precision-fermentation facility in the Kingdom. To begin with, Liberation Labs
has been commissioned to develop a feasibility study, which will provide a
clearer assessment of the location, timeline for the design, construction, and
launch of the facility. Once completed, further milestones will be announced
to the market.

 

Liberation Labs develops and operates purpose-built biomanufacturing
facilities that utilise precision fermentation to produce basic food
ingredients. The process offers a scalable and sustainable solution to
traditional food production methods and can be used to produce high-value
proteins without the need for animals.

 

Liberation Labs aims to establish itself as the global fabrication partner for
the industrial biotechnology sector through the design, construction and
operation of Bio3, its purpose-built biomanufacturing platform. This platform
will seek to address the critical bottleneck in capacity which fermentation
companies are currently facing. Liberation Labs broke ground on its first
facility in June 2023 in Richmond, Indiana and when complete, will have
600,000 litres of fermentation capacity. The project continues to make
significant progress with its build programme and expects to have the facility
complete by the end of this calendar year. Liberation Labs already has Letters
Of Intent representing over 200% of the available capacity for the first 5
years of the Richmond facility's operations.

 

To date Agronomics has invested a total of US$ 27 million (c.£21.9 million)
in Liberation Labs which, subject to audit, is currently carried at £34.1
million. This position represents c.23% of Agronomics' last stated Net Asset
Value as at 31 December 2024.

 

Jim Mellon, Executive Chair of Agronomics, and Chair of Liberation Labs, said:
"Investing in clean food infrastructure supports both national priorities and
transformational initiatives. NEOM, as a giga-project redefining the future of
living and food systems within the Kingdom, is a powerful example. Such
initiatives bolster Saudi Arabia's food security, creating resilient food
systems which can meet the demands of consumers and protect itself against the
threat of climate change. The Kingdom is taking bold steps to lead in this
emerging industry, and we are delighted to see Liberation Labs at the
forefront of delivering this project."

 

Majid Mufti, CEO of NIF, commented: "This strategic partnership marks an
important step on NEOM's journey to become a global hub for industrial-scale
sustainable food production. Liberation Labs' expertise in precision
fermentation and biomanufacturing will advance the establishment of NEOM as a
leader in the biomanufacturing space, catalyzing the adoption of advanced food
technologies and reshaping the food systems of tomorrow."

 

Mark Warner, Co-Founder and CEO of Liberation Labs, said: "The development of
our first site in the Middle East, in partnership with NIF and Topian, is an
incredible opportunity to blend our purpose-built biomanufacturing with their
purpose-driven organizations. We look forward to collaborating to redefine the
future of food production."

 

Dr Juan Carlos Motamayor, CEO of Topian, added, "At Topian, we are
transforming food systems to meet the needs of a growing population and a
changing climate. The establishment of this advanced biomanufacturing facility
will enable us to produce key food ingredients and high-quality alternative
proteins efficiently and sustainably. This investment will not only help
reduce food imports and improve food security but will also create new
economic opportunities and high-skilled jobs, giving the Kingdom a competitive
advantage in the dynamic, high-value novel-food sector."

 

 
                -ends-

About NEOM Investment Fund ("NIF")

NEOM Investment Fund is the strategic investment arm of
NEOM, accelerating the growth of its 15 knowledge-economy sectors. As the
key enabler of NEOM's commercial success, NIF is prioritizing investments that
unlock next-generation industries to turn NEOM's visionary goals into
reality. NIF partners with likeminded innovative companies, investors, and
entrepreneurs that are working on solving the world's most complex problems.

About NEOM

NEOM is an accelerator of human progress and a vision of what a New Future
might look like. It is a region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea being
built from the ground up as a living laboratory - a place where
entrepreneurship will chart the course for this New Future. It will be a
destination and a home for people who dream big and want to be part of
building a new model for exceptional livability, creating thriving businesses
and reinventing environmental conservation.

NEOM will include hyperconnected, cognitive cities, ports and enterprise
zones, research centers, sports and entertainment venues and tourist
destinations. As a hub for innovation, entrepreneurs, business leaders and
companies will come to research, incubate and commercialize new technologies
and enterprises in groundbreaking ways. Residents of NEOM will embody an
international ethos and embrace a culture of exploration, risk-taking and
diversity.

For further information email media@neom.com (mailto:media@neom.com) or visit
www.neom.com (http://www.neom.com) and www.neom.com/en-us/newsroom
(http://www.neom.com/en-us/newsroom) .

 

About Liberation Labs

Liberation Labs is commercializing precision fermentation with a global
network of purpose-built 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
(http://www.liberationlabs.com) .

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focusing on investment
opportunities within the field of clean food. The Company has established a
portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to
invest 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
improve food security for the world's expanding population. A full list of
Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/
(https://agronomics.im/) .

 

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