The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently designated iFAB as a Tech Hub under the Tech Hubs Program, established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

New York, NY - 6th December 2023 - Synonym, the data-driven infrastructure development, and management platform for the bioeconomy, today announces its recognition as a member of the Consortium of the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Hub (iFAB). This comes as the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently designated iFAB as a Tech Hub under the Tech Hubs Program, established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

The Tech Hubs Program is geared towards investing directly in high-potential U.S. regions, to transform them into globally competitive innovation centers. iFAB’s focus is on advancing agriculture and industry through biomanufacturing. Biomanufacturing, which involves converting crops such as corn and soybeans into a diverse range of high-value commodities, has potential for substantial environmental and economic impact, but there is a lack of existing infrastructure to meet this demand.

iFAB, with Synonym joining as a participant, is strategically positioned to address this infrastructure gap and elevate Illinois into a global hub for fermentation manufacturing. iFAB is home to one of the most comprehensive bioprocessing scale-up facilities in the nation, the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Lab (IBRL), and expansion plans could increase anticipated industry growth, create new jobs and service more customers.

Synonym is proud to join the current consortium members, including:

• Higher Education Institutions (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

• Economic Development Organizations

• Industry Firms (ADM, Boston Bioprocess, Clarkson Grain Company, gener8tor, Primient, Serra Ventures)

• Industry Groups

• Labor Organizations

• Manufacturing Extension Centers

• Units of Government

• Venture Development Organizations

• Workforce Training Organizations

Edward Shenderovich, CEO at Synonym, said: "We are honored to be part of the iFAB Consortium and the Tech Hubs Program. This recognition is very much aligned with Synonym’s company-wide vision and we are excited to be part of an initiative that drives sustainable economic growth and precision fermentation into the future. Together, with the great group of Consortium members, we look forward to contributing our development and capital markets expertise to make Illinois and the US global leaders in fermentation manufacturing and accelerate large-scale biomanufacturing domestically.”

For more information about Synonym, please visit www.synonym.bio. To learn more about the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Hub (iFAB), please visit https://ifabtechhub.research.illinois.edu/.