Liberation Labs, a US-based biotech manufacturing company, has raised $50.5 million in funding for its precision-fermented foods, with a focus on building large-scale facilities in Richmond, Indiana, and Saudi Arabia. The company aims to commercialize precision-fermented ingredients through a global network of dedicated production plants, which will feature a fit-for-purpose design to enable cost-effective solutions.
The funding round was led by the state-owned NEOM Investment Fund, which provided part of the $31.5 million raised, along with other investors such as Galloway Limited, Meach Cove Capital, and existing investors Agronomics, New Agrarian Capital, and Siddhi Capital. The remaining $19 million comes from insider bridge notes raised last year.
Liberation Labs plans to build a first commercial-scale biomanufacturing plant in Richmond, Indiana, which will have a fermentation capacity of 600,000 liters and will produce between 600 to 1,200 tons of protein annually. The company also intends to build factories in six geographies, starting with a 600,000-liter launch facility and eventually opening a plant with a capacity of four million liters in each market.
The precision fermentation company is also in the late stages of constructing a facility in Saudi Arabia, which will produce “building block ingredients” for food, chemicals, and other industrial products. The company has raised a total of $71.5 million in private capital since its founding in 2022, in addition to $55 million in non-dilutive funding commitments.
The company’s focus on precision fermentation, also known as a biomanufacturing platform, has gained interest from investors and policymakers, with the US Department of Defense providing funding for its projects. The company’s goal is to build a future where precision fermentation proteins can reach industrial scale to meet growing global demand.