Primient and Synonym announce partnership to accelerate bioproduct commercialization in the USA

Primient, a leader in plant-based, renewable ingredients, and Synonym, a biomanufacturing infrastructure developer, have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate bioproduct innovation and commercialization, furthering the USA's competitive advantage in the race to bring new, functional and affordable biomaterials to market.

The partnership seamlessly leverages both Primient’s and Synonym’s expertise and assets, providing the comprehensive infrastructure and support needed to launch new product concepts from the lab to commercial scale.

Primient is a +100 year agri-business pioneer whose breadth and depth in the bioproduct space and manufacturing leadership spans food and industrial ingredients, as well as fermentation process development from feedstock to finished product.

“We’re one of the originals in this space,” commented Jim Stutelberg, Chief Executive Officer of Primient. “We understand the potential of biobased products and solutions and have the proven experience to back it up at scale. Our partnership with Synonym will make a material difference for companies trying to break the biobased barrier by providing a scalable, data-led proving ground to grow with support. We are excited to be a part of this project and look forward to the positive difference we can make together.”

Synonym’s platforms and products are difference-makers for companies throughout their commercialization journey. Its collaborative, data-driven approach and portfolio of solutions offer holistic support for companies of all sizes and across industries endeavoring to bring bioproducts to consumers.

“Thousands of companies in the precision fermentation sector have used our digital tools, and we understand the steep barriers to entry to bring bioproducts to market," added Edward Shenderovich, Chief Executive Officer of Synonym. "Synonym has consistently developed solutions that support companies throughout their scale-up journeys, and we are thrilled to take a major step forward by expanding our offerings to include capacity at the demonstration scale. By combining our expertise in development and financing with Primient’s manufacturing excellence and scale, we are enabling customers to transition seamlessly from concept to commercialization. We are excited to witness the impact of this project and partnership in the coming months.”

Primient and Synonym will begin work on their first project based at Primient’s Decatur, Illinois facility. The initial scope of work will focus on re-commissioning and upgrading existing fermentation assets at the site, as well as expanding current capacity and significantly expanding the downstream processing unit.

Once completed, the joint Primient Synonym facility will provide a full suite of wrap-around services for companies using precision fermentation ready to launch new product concepts from the lab to commercial scale.

The project, called iPROOF (Pilot Research Operations Optimization Facility) is partially funded through a US Department of Commerce and Economic Development Administration Phase 2 Tech Hub Grant Award (originally submitted as part of the iFAB Tech Hub Grant submission).