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Liberation Labs has secured $30 million to advance the development of its first commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility in Richmond, Indiana. The precision fermentation platform developer says that the new facility will have a fermentation capacity of 600,000 litres with a fully dedicated downstream process (DSP). Mark Warner, co-founder and CEO of Liberation Labs, said: “This new financing, combined with our seed raise, allows us to not only secure all the needed equipment but also to continue investing in our team to move the overall project forward at speed”. The company has commenced the design engineering phase and has ordered the major engineered equipment, including its 150,000-litre fermenters and DSP separation and drying units. According to Liberation Labs, the new facility will be the “first” purpose-built commercial-scale precision fermentation plant in the US and the “first” in the US fully dedicated to novel bioproducts. Warner continued: “Traditionally it is challenging to secure this kind of funding for a first-of-a-kind facility, but this lease financing reflects the belief in our vision and strong team by our committed equity and equipment finance investors.” Liberation Labs predicts the new facility to catalyse market demand, commercialising innovation among food, chemical and material biotechnology companies and their associated economic, health and environmental benefits. This equipment financing comes after the company announced the closure of a $20 million seed round of funding in December. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in June this year, with initial plant start-up by the end of 2024.