Agronomics invests another $10m in Liberation Labs

(Sharecast News) - Cellular agriculture investor Agronomics announced a significant investment of $10m in its portfolio company Liberation Labs on Friday, as part of a broader $12.5m financing round, with existing investor Siddhi Capital also participating. The AIM-traded firm said the investment, facilitated through a secured convertible promissory note (SCPN), was aimed at supporting the ongoing construction of Liberation Labs' facility in Richmond, Indiana, in preparation for its upcoming series A round of financing.

It said the SCPN would convert into the same instrument and terms as the anticipated financing, which was expected to raise at least $37.5m through a combination of debt and equity.

Agronomics financed the investment using its own cash resources.

With the latest investment, Liberation Labs had now raised a total of $33.5m in equity-linked instruments, in addition to securing commitments for non-dilutive funding amounting to $55m.

The non-dilutive funding included $30m in equipment financing and a $25m loan from Ameris Bank, backed by the US Department of Agriculture under the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program.

Agronomics said Liberation Labs was aiming to establish itself as a global fabrication partner in the industrial biotechnology industry through the development of Bio3, its purpose-built biomanufacturing platform.

Groundbreaking for its first facility took place in June last year, with a projected fermentation capacity of 600,000 litres upon completion.

As of now, the project was about halfway through its construction timeline and, subject to the completion of the series A financing, was expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025.

The site, strategically located in Richmond, Indiana, was selected based on various criteria such as access to sugar inputs, utility rates, labour availability and cost, regulatory environment, and government incentives.

Additionally, the facility had the potential for expansion by an additional four million litres of capacity.

Including the investment via SCPN, Agronomics' total investment in Liberation Labs amount to $17.6m, with an audited book value of £25.7m.

The position represented roughly 14.8% of Agronomics' last stated net asset value, including post-balance sheet date adjustments, with Agronomics now holding a 37.5% stake in Liberation Labs on a fully-diluted basis.

"Liberation Labs continues to deliver on the project milestones of its launch facility in Indiana," said Agronomics executive chairman Jim Mellon.

"We have huge confidence in the team's ability to execute and believe that Liberation Labs will become the first company in Agronomics' portfolio to be cash generative."

At 1118 BST, shares in Agronomics weer down 0.18% at 8.48p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.