California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus lands $9.8M funding

In California, BEAM Circular recently announced a major milestone for California’s clean technology and biomanufacturing future with $9.8 million in new funding secured for the California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus—a state-of-the-art facility designed to scale breakthrough technologies that convert agricultural byproducts, food waste, and forestry residues into renewable energy, sustainable materials, and other valuable products.

The funding comes from two significant sources: $8 million allocated through the recently finalized 2025 California State Budget, and $1.8 million in Catalyst Funding from regional economic development convener North Valley THRIVE through the California Jobs First Program.

The California State Budget allocation was secured thanks to an official budget request led by Senator Jerry McNerney and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom. 

The Campus is a key pillar of circular bioeconomy innovation and bioindustry development efforts led by CBIO Collaborative, a coalition of over 100 public and private partners coordinated by BEAM Circular, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Merced, the Manufacturers Council of the Central Valley, and WE Will!, the North San Joaquin Valley’s K16 Regional Collaborative.

Located in the North San Joaquin Valley, in the center of California’s agricultural heartland, the Campus will serve as critical infrastructure to support California’s transition to a circular, low-carbon economy. By addressing the “valley of death” in biotechnology—the gap between research and commercial manufacturing—the facility will provide innovators and businesses with the resources needed to bring promising bio-based products to market. 

The Campus will offer shared facilities for entrepreneurs, support workforce training, and de-risk technologies that unlock new industry opportunities across California’s rural and agricultural regions, specializing in upcycling of locally-sourced biomass waste.