Agronomics led the founder’s round of precision fermentation group Liberation Labs through an initial investment of $627,000 for a 47% equity stake, the company announced today.
Agronomics is set to make the investment using its own funds in a bid to address the “pressing need” for full-scale precision fermentation facilities.
The move follows Agronomics’ existing investments in precision fermentation-produced proteins from its portfolio companies including Perfect Day, The EVERY Company, Motif FoodWorks and Geltor. Investment in the precision fermentation sector reportedly hit $1.7 billion in FY 2021.
Agronomics commented that the investment in full-scale production came as more companies looked to commercialise and scale-up their offerings for the consumer market.
The current fermentation facilities were made primarily for pharmaceutical purposes and lack the manufacturing capacity and equipment to produce protein alternatives on a massive consumption scale.
Liberation Labs was founded to tackle the widening gap in fermentation capacity, with companies making alternative proteins such as egg and dairy replacements lacking the resources to scale up production to hit customer demand.
“Liberation Labs will deliver precision fermentation without compromise for its customers, and aims to become the global leader for alternative protein production, by commercialising modern and purpose-built manufacturing facilities at a cost structure that frees the world from the costs of industrialised agriculture,” said Liberation Labs co-founder and CEO Mark Warner.
Agronomics confirmed that Liberation Labs was currently evaluating six geographies to locate its initial fit-for-purpose facility, which is set to have a total fermentation capacity of millions of litres upon completion.
“This is a hugely exciting investment for us, and it is a privilege to help facilitate the first and only precision food fermentation facility,” said Agronomics co-founder and executive director Jim Mellon.
“Existing contract manufacturing capacity will need to be scaled up by 1,000x in the coming decades to facilitate broad based production and adoption of proteins produced via fermentation.”
“Liberation Labs’ solution will set the standard for the precision fermentation industry with cost effective, reliable and strategically situated facilities to meet growing consumer demand across the globe. It is a crucial step in the advancement of cellular agriculture.”