Liberation Labs secures US$ 25 million loan

Agronomics (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.

Liberation 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.

Once 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.

Agronomics 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.

Mark Warner CEO and Co-founder of Liberation Labs said: -

"Award of this USDA loan guarantee is continued confirmation of the importance of adding US biomanufacturing capacity and the strength of our business plan. Our project underwent significant due diligence and risk rating, and to come out the other end with a loan guarantee is a strong reflection of the quality of our team, our vision and our ability to execute."

Jim Mellon, Executive Director of Agronomics said:-

"Liberation Labs is developing state-of-the-art purpose-built fermentation infrastructure which will transform the existing fermentation capacity and help build a future in which precision fermentation proteins reach the industrial scale needed to meet growing demand in the US and across the world. With continued progress being made and key delivery timelines on track, we look forward to the operational launch in 2025."

About Liberation Labs

About Ameris Bancorp

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The Company's banking subsidiary, Ameris Bank, had 164 locations in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina at the end of the most recent quarter.