Slashing CO2Decarbonizing the chemicals industry through synthetic biology.
Big Picture
Historically one of the dirtiest sectors of the economy, the $6 trillion chemicals industry is responsible for roughly 10% of global energy consumption and 20% of all industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Pollution is produced at every step of production, from petroleum-derived feedstocks to process to transportation. On top of that, many chemicals are notoriously unsafe to make.
How it Works
Solugen combines the directed evolution of enzymes with machine learning to produce an array of specialty chemicals. These chemicals directly substitute for the combustible and usually toxic petroleum-based versions that are the building blocks of countless industrial and consumer products, like hand sanitizer. Solugen avoids and removes CO2 at every step, starting with carbon-storing feedstocks.
Unfair Advantage
Solugen makes commodity products more cheaply, higher-margin, and with significantly lower capex than one of the world’s largest, dirtiest, and slowest-moving industries. Solugen’s first product was hydrogen peroxide. Next came glucaric acid, widely used in water treatment. Now, they’ve scaled a platform for enzyme production that will allow them to replicate this process for one chemical after another.
06
Tons of CO2
avoided per ton of hydrogen peroxide
GAURAB CHAKRABARTI CEO & CO-FOUNDER
Gaurab is a physician-scientist focused on using biology to solve incredibly complex problems. He received an MD/PhD in cancer biology and enzymology from the University of Texas.
Follow: @GaurabC
SEAN HUNT CTO & CO-FOUNDER
Previously, Sean was a fuel-cell engineer for the U.S. Navy and a vaccine and API process engineer for Merck. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from MIT.
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