Business
Liberation Labs secures US$ 25 million loan
Liberation Labs secures US$ 25 million loan.
About this update from Agronomics Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n1 December 2023\nAgronomics Limited\n(\"Agronomics\" or the \"Company\")\nLiberation Labs secures US$ 25 million loan for biomanufacturing facility\nAgronomics (ANIC:LSE), a leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that the United States Department of Agriculture (\"USDA\") has awarded Ameris Bancorp (\"Ameris Bank\") a US$ 25 million \"Business and Industry\" loan guarantee to help the continued build and the completion of Liberation Labs Holdings Inc (\"Liberation Labs\")'s biomanufacturing facility in Indiana, USA.\n\nLiberation Labs is currently constructing a commercial-scale, purpose-built, precision fermentation biomanufacturing facility with a capacity of 600,000 litres and a fully dedicated downstream process. The facility is a significant step forward in addressing the critical lack of fermentation capacity facing the industry. It will allow companies to produce at the necessary commercialisation scales, the capacity required to achieve favourable unit economics. The awarded loan guarantee - made available to businesses working to spur local economic development - ensures that Liberation Labs has the necessary capital to complete the build-out of the remainder of the facility over the next year. Commercial production is expected to commence by Q1 2025.\nOnce completed, the facility will be purpose-built for precision fermentation products that can be delivered at an optimised cost, with increased yield production and improved efficiency for a variety of novel bio-based proteins such as precision fermentation-derived egg and dairy proteins. A 3D rendering of the sophisticated 600,000L launch facility, designed to address the acute shortage in precision fermentation capacity, can be seen here.\nAgronomics has invested US$ 7.6 million into Liberation Labs since its inception, which is currently carried at £18.4 million. Subject to audit, this position accounts for approximately 10.5% of Agronomics' last published Net Asset Value (30/09/2023), including post-balance sheet date adjustments. Agronomics has an equity ownership of 37.4% on a fully diluted basis.\nMark Warner CEO and Co-founder of Liberation Labs said: -\n\"Award of this USDA loan guarantee is continued confirmation of the importance of adding US biomanufacturing capacity and the strength of our business pl...