iFab Awarded $51M EDA Tech Hubs Grant with Assistance From Serra

The Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub has been awarded approximately $51 million from the Tech Hubs Program through the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The iFAB consortium, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will receive a Phase 2 Implementation grant to position Central Illinois as a global leader in biomanufacturing and precision fermentation, supporting national security, economic growth, and job generation.

“Securing this grant is a testament to the hard work and collaboration of our partners and the strategic importance of leveraging biology as a manufacturing technology of the future — we are thrilled to lead this charge in making Central Illinois the heart of biomanufacturing in the U.S. and beyond,” said Beth Conerty, iFAB regional innovation officer and associate director of business development at the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U. of I.

Team members from Serra Ventures were a part of this initiative by assisting in writing and requesting of the grant proposal. We are very excited about what this grant means for the iFab Tech Hub, and the surrounding community.

To view the full press announcement, follow here.