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The bioeconomy is experiencing remarkable growth as companies develop innovative ways to use biological processes for producing materials, chemicals, and foods. From precision fermentation creating alternative proteins to microbial manufacturing of bioplastics, startups are working to replace traditional petrochemical or animal-based products with sustainable bio-based alternatives.
However, a critical infrastructure gap threatens this momentum: the severe shortage of pilot and demonstration-scale biomanufacturing facilities. While innovators can readily work at lab scale (5-10 liter fermenters), scaling to industrial volumes (1,000-20,000+ liters) presents significant challenges without specialized facilities. Despite billions in venture capital flowing into synthetic biology and fermentation-based products between 2018-2023, many companies have struggled to find facilities for production trials or market samples.
The economic potential is substantial - the bio-based products sector contributed approximately $438.8 billion to the U.S. economy and supported 4.6 million jobs in a recent year.[1] Yet California currently lacks pre-commercial contract biomanufacturing facilities for scaling these promising innovations.[2] A 2023 "Capacitor" report documented over 150 fermentation facilities globally but found very few in the U.S. at demonstration or commercial scale.[3]
This capacity shortage has serious implications:
The Plant Innovation Center will directly address this critical gap by creating a pilot biomanufacturing wing with fermentation vessels ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 liters, plus downstream processing equipment. This will establish one of the first open-access demonstration-scale bioproduction facilities in California.
Our approach goes beyond just providing equipment. The Plant will integrate technical expertise alongside infrastructure, offering process engineering support to help companies optimize their scaling journey. The facility creates a community of practice where knowledge can be shared, accelerating everyone's progress.
What makes our approach particularly powerful is the co-location of biomanufacturing with complementary resources like food labs and greenhouse facilities. A company developing a microbial biofertilizer, for example, could produce a batch in our pilot plant and immediately test its effects on crops in our greenhouses - all under one roof. This integrated "lab-to-pilot-to-field" pipeline significantly compresses development timelines.
For the bioeconomy to realize its full potential, stakeholders across the ecosystem need to engage. Startups should plan early for scale-up challenges by connecting with centers like The Plant. Established corporations can use our facilities to evaluate bio-based solutions before full commercial adoption. And policymakers should consider how facilities like ours provide a template that could be replicated to ensure the U.S. maintains leadership in bio-based manufacturing.
The Plant's biomanufacturing facility will demonstrate how addressing the infrastructure gap accelerates commercialization of sustainable bio-based products, positioning California as a leader in this critical and growing sector.
[1] Based on recent analysis of the bio-based products sector's economic impact.
[2] The Plant's market analysis identified this critical gap in California's innovation infrastructure.
[3] AgFundernews.com, "Synonym Bio report documents global gaps in fermentation capacity," 2023. According to the Capacitor data, only about 15% of listed facilities had demo-scale capacity, and just 16% were full commercial scale.
[4] AgFundernews.com, "Synonym Bio report documents global gaps in fermentation capacity," 2023. The report highlighted the backlog of innovations that cannot be commercialized due to facility shortages.
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