A Spokane Valley-based microbiology culture media company has  completed a round of investment funding that its founder says will enable it to increase production exponentially.

S2 Media LLC, which operates in a 5,000-square-foot office and warehouse space within the Woodruff Business Park, at 2205 N. Woodruff Road, garnered $750,000 from local investors.

“We’re using the investment money to expand our filling capacity with a second filling line,” says Stephanie Bernards, who founded S2 Media.

The company manufactures what’s called culture media, which is essentially food to support the growth of bacteria in petri dishes for a wide range of scientific research.

The recent cash infusion will enable the company to increase its monthly capacity from 30,000 units to 400,000 units, she says.

“The new equipment also allows us to fill multiple types of petri dishes, like contact plates and bi-plates … both of which we have demand for,” she says.

Nearly four years old, the company now has 130 products for sale and  more than 160 clients, she says.

Bernards serves as the executive director for S2 Media, which is a division of S2M Enterprises LLC. Summer Teague is a chemist and the company’s operations director, and Molly Paridon serves as the supply chain and marketing director. The three women are S2 Media’s only employees.