Liberation Labs announces final close of US$20 million in seed financing

Liberation Labs, the developer of a precision fermentation platform for the production of alternative proteins at scale, has closed a US$20 million seed round of funding. The round was led by Agronomics and Siddhi Capital and includes CPT Capital, Thia Ventures, 8090 Industries and Echo. Funds will be used for, among other things, the purchase and development of a site upon which to build its first commercial-scale Launch Facility, which will have a fermentation capacity of 600,000 liters with a fully dedicated downstream process (DSP).

"Liberation Labs aims to dramatically increase availability of precision fermentation capacity to meet the rising demand for alternative proteins, fueled by population growth and increasingly health-conscious, impact-driven consumers," said Mark Warner, Co-founder & CEO, Liberation Labs. "Our business model enables us to not only meet the demand from today's traditional food companies but unlock innovation among the dozens of emerging food-tech companies."

The company is commercializing precision fermentation with a global network of purpose-built, international manufacturing facilities that enable the next wave of biotechnology advancements to produce alternative protein at scale.

"Liberation Labs has the potential to dramatically accelerate adoption of novel proteins that are increasingly in demand by both existing and next-gen food companies responding to changing consumer preferences," added Jim Mellon, Co-founder & Executive Director at Agronomics. "We believe they will set a new standard in the industry and usher in a new era of innovation in healthy, sustainable and scalable foods."

With the close of the seed round, the company's focus is turned completely to finalizing the site selection process and the completion of Front End Loading level 3 engineering (FEL-3), followed by placing orders for long-lead equipment and building out the operations team. Liberation Labs is projecting commissioning and commercial production of its first facility by the end of 2024.

"We're confident in the experience and talent of the senior executive team at Liberation Labs to deliver on a novel approach to precision fermentation," concluded Steven Finn, Co-founder & Co-managing partner of Siddhi Capital. "We believe they can make a significant contribution to making the global food system more sustainable and scalable."