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London listed lab-grown meat investor Agronomics has invested a further $2m (£1.5m) in Liberation Labs.

It is part of a wider $3.5m fundraise for the US biotech firm, which is secured via a promissory note.

The note, a form of convertible debt, pays interest of 10% a year and matures in 10 October 2027.

Liberation Labs has also received a $ 1.4m award under the US Department of Defense’s distributed bioindustrial manufacturing program.

The company raised the money to finance the continued construction of its facility in Richmond, Indiana in advance of an intended Series A round.

Agronomics chairman Jim Mellon said: “In 2020, McKinsey estimated that approximately 60% of all physical inputs of the global economy could be produced via biomanufacturing. The DoD’s recent commitment to invest across fabrication, firepower, fitness, food and fuel, demonstrates the potential of a biomanufacturing ecosystem in which the benefits of more secure and reliable supply chains are delivered across industries.

“In line with this, Liberation Labs’ has made significant steps towards securing binding offtake agreements for its launch facility. The company now has signed letters of intent with potential customers representing well over 200% of the available capacity for the first few years of operations, demonstrating strong demand for ‘fit for purpose’ biomanufacturing facilities across food, fuel, materials and pharmaceuticals.”

Liberation Labs is commercialising precision fermentation with a global network of purpose-built manufacturing facilities that it expects to enable the next wave of biotechnology advancements to produce bio-based consumer products at scale.

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