Startup Cohorts
The following startups were selected to participate in the 2024 Change Chemistry Startup Cohort, providing an opportunity to network and foster relationships to bring technologies and products to market that advance green and sustainable chemistry solutions. Hear from this year's Startup Cohort at the Innovators Roundtable!
2024 Startup Cohort
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A2O Advanced Materials Inc. (A2O) is an innovation-based company in Vancouver, Canada developing a new class of bonding materials that uniquely combines the properties of adhesion, waterproof, self-healing and regeneration. Our materials enable the manufacture of long-lasting protective coatings and adhesives for application in large-scale industries including marine, energy, apparel, and additives. Our mission is to provide material solutions where other adhesive technologies have failed and in doing so, preventing significant economic and environmental penalties. |
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Algenesis Labs was born in 2016 out of research conducted at UC San Diego. Soleic urethane technologies are plant based, low carbon, non-persistent microplastic forming (biodegradable) polymer systems. The original work involved extracting oils from Algae as precursors of the polyol, but more recently the technology has been expanded to allow use of a variety of plant sources. Soleic has 2 main forms, pourable liquid urethane systems and thermoplastic urethane pellets (TPU). The core technology is built on polyester polyols, but plant based isocyanates are in pilot phase today. The company has numerous patents and peer reviewed scientific papers on the subject. Initial Soleic products are commercially ready for sale and available today, with the portfolio continuing to expand. Soleic is manufactured today by contract manufacturing partners in several locations, but Algenesis is currently designing its own manufacturing facility, which will be located in the USA. The primary market focus is footwear applications, with an additional focus on textile coatings, furniture foam, consumer electronics and outdoor sporting goods. The company has also created its own proof of concept footwear brand, Blueview. Which demonstrates to the market that highly sustainable footwear can be a reality today. |
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Ambient Fuels is a pioneering green hydrogen developer tackling the toughest decarbonization challenges. We deliver custom-engineered green hydrogen solutions. Blending development and technical expertise with our renewable energy and industrial process experience, we oversee every step of execution—from project development and design to financing and construction. We take a collaborative approach, working closely with our customers to optimize our solutions to their unique needs. When our industrial customers adopt green hydrogen across a wide variety of uses cases, they can reduce or eliminate fossil fuel inputs and greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring a sustainable future. |
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Battelle’s GreenLoop™ process addresses the ever-growing problem of reducing plastic waste and provides a new approach to convert complex end-of-life materials such as textiles into recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable resins that enable a circular economy. We do this by chemically deconstructing recalcitrant plastics into small molecules and then biologically upcycling them into biopolymers. Not only is Battelle GreenLoop™ climate positive, but it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the use of virgin plastics. GreenLoop™ has potential to advance progress towards sustainability goals to achieve zero waste to landfills and to achieve the ambitious goal of all products designed for circularity and waste reduction. |
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Blueprint Climate is an ambitious initiative aimed at transforming Oregon and the Nation into a global leader in climate innovation. As a tech-enabled, climate innovation supercluster and venture builder, Blueprint Climate fosters collaboration between startups, businesses, government, and academic institutions. By focusing on sustainable economic development and climate impact, it creates a proactive, coordinated ecosystem that drives innovation, supports rural and urban communities, and exports climate solutions to the world. Blueprint Climate’s vision is to position Oregon and other key locations as a hub for breakthrough technologies, attracting top talent and investment while promoting prosperity for all. |
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For the last decade, GFBiochemicals has been developing novel process technology enabling Levulinic Acid derivatives to be produced in commercial quantities. In 2022, the company started the commercial deployment of it’s patented technology platform and has since then been producing commercial volumes through it’s manufacturing network. To meet market demand, the company has started plans to inaugurate it’s first in kind, large scale commercial operations in the south of France where the company has its main offices and R&D center. The main areas where the levulinate esters and ketals are gaining traction as viable alternatives to petrochemical incumbents include Coatings, Home Care, I&I and Agriculture applications. The core value proposition of our products includes the full biogenic carbon nature of the products, improved safety profile in handling and use and the overall strong performance on par with incumbent technology. |
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Human Chemical uses advanced AI to instantly predict the toxicity of chemical compounds. Leveraging over 700 datasets and proprietary molecular machine learning models, our software instantly predicts a comprehensive spectrum of human and environmental toxicity for any compound. We've packaged this tech into an easy-to-use tool for brands, chemists, and toxicologists. With Human Chemical's AI, companies can create and procure safer products more efficiently than ever before. |
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Loop CO2 is a pioneering startup advancing the circular economy by transforming CO2 into affordable and upcyclable plastics. Through cutting-edge catalysis and polymer science, we have developed processes that convert CO2 and bio-derived feedstocks into high-performance polymers via simple catalytic methods. These materials are engineered for exceptional chemical recyclability, allowing them to be broken down into pure monomers and regenerated into virgin products repeatedly under mild conditions. Our technology not only supports a negative carbon footprint but also moves us closer to a true circular economy. At Loop CO2, our mission is to provide sustainable alternatives to traditional materials, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and minimizing the environmental impact of industrial processes. |
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Lygos, Inc. is a sustainable specialty chemical company that helps customers meet their highest performance and sustainability goals. Lygos’ solutions are designed to replace persistent and carbon-intensive chemicals with products that are better, cleaner, and cost effective. With a proprietary and fully integrated platform of the most advanced technologies across synthetic biology, industrial chemistry, and application development, a pipeline of innovative products, and a first-of-its-kind Sustainable Solutions Center, Lygos is accelerating the world’s transition to high-performing, sustainable solutions. |
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NobleAI enables chemical, materials and energy companies to dramatically accelerate the development of better performing, more sustainable products while also helping manage regulatory compliance and risk. NobleAI combines its highly data-efficient Science-Based AI technology with the powerful cloud-based Noble Visualization and Insights Platform to give teams the ability to solve complex problems, in software and in minutes, before running time-consuming and expensive lab experiments. NobleAI is delivering real value in commercial use cases for leading companies worldwide, providing customized yet cost-effective solutions with unmatched speed and data protection. |
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Oleo SPOS has developed a biomanufacturing platform for leveraging biomass waste to produce sustainable oil products. Its core technology, developed at Stanford University and patent pending, can valorize a wide range of inputs, circumventing traditional feedstock availability issues and reducing the cost of biomass preprocessing by 30%. Oleo is currently conducting a waste valorization pilot program with partners in academia and government, and is supported by Activate, the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, and Alpine Social Ventures. |
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Praio is a biomanufacturing start-up focused on decarbonizing chemical supply chains by enabling sustainable and low-cost chemical production by using our novel protocell platform. Our protocells are composed of cheap, commercially available polymers and mimic structures that would have served as evolutionary precursors to cells. These protocells thus act as an intermediate ground to conventional cell-based and cell-free biocatalysis, and combine the high enzyme concentrations and efficient multi-enzyme cascade reactions of the former, with the tremendous pathway flexibility of the latter. Their simplified architecture further provides toxic resistance and ease of processing, which enable their scalability. By combining the latest advances in material science and synthetic biology, we will leverage the true potential of biocatalysis to tackle the climate crisis. |
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Twelve is the carbon transformation company on a mission to eliminate global emissions and build a fossil-free future through the science of carbon transformation and electrochemistry. Carbon transformation means using CO2 to displace fossil fuels as a feedstock. This is done with Opus, Twelve’s revolutionary technology that works like industrial photosynthesis. It transforms CO2, water, and renewable energy into hydrocarbons, the building blocks for essential chemicals, materials, and fuels. With this process, they can make the same chemicals, materials, and fuels from CO2 that are conventionally made from fossil fuels. Learn more at www.twelve.co. |
Previous Startup Cohorts
Click on the tabs below to learn more about past Change Chemistry Startup Cohorts.
Arrakis Materials
Arrakis Materials is developing technology for converting CO2 into valuable solid minerals. Our proprietary chemistry accelerates the natural reaction of CO2 with silicate minerals to produce carbon-negative versions of the carbonates used as polymer fillers, paint & coatings fillers, construction materials, etc. Looking for new uses and applications for our carbon-negative minerals.
Ayas Renewables
Ayas Renewables is a biotech company replacing petrochemicals with biorenewable chemicals. We are bringing multiple biorenewable chemicals to market with the first being biorenewable propylene glycol, Bio-PG. Ayas’ Bio-PG is market leading in purity at 99.9% and a true drop-in replacement for petrochemical propylene glycol with Ayas Bio-PG requiring no change in formulations, and best of all, Ayas Bio-PG cost the same or less than the Petro-PG while reducing carbon by 80+%. Ayas’ first plant will be on the Gulf Coast for which Ayas has already secured feedstock and $100+ million in signed purchase orders from Fortune 500 companies. Ayas is currently seeking a.) $10mil in venture funding and b.) take or pay offtake agreements for the remainder of Plant 1 production. Additional biorenewable chemicals include hydroxyacetone, dihydroxyacetone, dipropylene glycol and more.
Boreal Bioproducts
Boreal Bioproducts (formerly known as Montinutra Ltd.) converts forest industry side streams into valuable ingredients: polysaccharides, polyphenols, and treated fibres. These multi-functional Boreal Bioproducts® ingredients can be applied, for example, in binders, adhesives, resins, coatings, personal care, detergents, and composites. Looking for partners to develop novel applications.
Cascade Biocatalysis
Cascade Biocatalysis enables greener chemical manufacturing with more robust enzymes, moving nature's catalysts from the cell into the factory. Cascade leverages its proprietary Body Armor for Enzymes™ immobilization technology to increase enzymes lifespan, solvent tolerance and melting temperature, decreasing the cost of using them as catalysts. Currently with its platform approach, Cascade has been successful across fifteen different enzymes (100% success) across industries from fragrance manufacturing to wastewater treatment to plastic digestion.
FiberX
FiberX is a sustainable chemicals and materials company that uses agricultural waste as a sustainable feedstock to reduce or replace the use of petroleum. FiberX is entering the $101 billion green chemicals market with a line of biocomposite plastics that are reinforced by the addition of processed corn stover fiber, replacing up to 50% of the petroleum-based native polymers providing increased structural rigidity to finish plastic goods. Our vision is to be the premier commercializer of products that use plant biomass as their key feedstock including a technology solution that will compete in the $8 billion composite wood adhesive resin market.
Hazard Evaluations Ltd (HazEL)
Hazard Evaluations Ltd (HazEL) uses reliable data to simplify decision making for all points along the chemical supply chain, from farmers and growers, regulators through to chemical suppliers, large and small scale users, and insurance underwriters.
The tool enables users to select toxicity and environmental pathway parameters to support their strategic decision making and ease the burden of chemical risk management.
Our emerging concern dimension uses AI in our proprietary HEAT model to identify chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) before they become a problem.
Our mission is to provide simple tools that improve efficiency in chemical management, so that you can spend more time on other things.
Ruby Bio
Ruby Bio uses naturally occurring yeast to convert low-cost sugar into high-value products. Our proprietary biosynthesis platform manufactures a full range of surfactant ingredients that are biodegradable, non-toxic, and deliver top performance in personal care, homecare, food, and anywhere you need surfactants.
Bright Path Laboratories (United States)
Bright Path Laboratories is pushing the pharmaceutical industry forward with its disruptive, sustainable, and advanced technology. Bright Path's green, agile, and adaptable approach to domestic manufacturing uses Artificial Intelligence, Green Chemistry, and a Continuous Flow platform to make our processes more efficient and less wasteful. Bright Path's vision is centered around strengthening America's essential medicine supply chain, reducing the risk of life-saving drug shortages, and improving the accessibility, affordability, and reliability of medicines for all—including for those in underserved and overlooked patient populations.
Curie Co. (United States)
Curie Co. is the standard for long-lasting, sustainable personal care. We fashion biological solutions from the basic building blocks of life. Our enzymes are gentle for people and the planet. From hand soap, body wash, hair care products, skincare, and beyond, we give product formulators the freedom to build powerful, long-lasting formulations that are nature-based from the bottom up.
DetraPel (United States)
DetraPel is a sustainably innovative advanced materials company that specializes in synthesizing and manufacturing PFAS-Free protective coatings. Along with unparalleled research and understanding of protective coatings, striving to implement planet-friendly solutions is at the core of every formulation. Bringing innovative, cost effective, and environmentally safe chemicals to industry is the company’s edge in creating strategic solutions for even the most complex challenges. DetraPel focuses on solutions for a diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets including: textile, paperboard, food packaging, automotive, healthcare, and more. Custom product development, chemical processing, contract manufacturing, and other offerings are part of DetraPel’s greater objective.
Dirty Labs (United States)
At Dirty Labs Inc., we're merging science and design to change home and laundry care for the better. Dirty Labs is all about clean. Using cutting edge innovation in biotech, we're creating innovative solutions to help keep our clothes and living spaces clean, without the use of harsh chemicals, toxins or allergens.
DUDE CHEM (Germany)
DUDE CHEM is a Green Chemistry startup with its roots in the German Cluster of Excellence in Catalysis at the University of Technology Berlin. As a virtual deep tech manufacturer, we enable greener outsourcing of pharmaceuticals and their intermediates in order to transform the current pharma-chemical industry into an environmentally benign sector.
gluECO Adhesives (United States)
gluECO Adhesives LLC is a formulator and manufacturer of biobased, fully sustainable adhesives, binders, and films. Based on corn protein, the products are highly tunable to meet specific application requirements. Easily crosslinks or encapsulates a wide variety of compounds. Current market focus is on binding different materials when biodegradability/composability is required, binder for biomass to manufacture composite materials, and a dermal film for cosmetics and personal wellness uses.
Nohbo (United States)
We are a mission-driven material science company founded on the premise of eradicating unnecessary single-use plastics. Rooted in sunny Melbourne, Florida, minutes from the ocean, we formulate, develop, and commercialize novel out-of-this-world personal care plastic waste-free products that lather, cleanse, and nourish without compromise. Our ethos drives the next generation of products, and we remain firm believers that the future of personal care stems from the breakthroughs we make in our lab today. Our target markets are Consumer Package Goods (CPGs) companies in the personal care and beauty space, as well as partnering with Hospitality industry, specifically, hotels.
Ourobio (United States)
Ourobio is a young synthetic biology & circular economy company. We develop engineered microorganisms to turn industrial byproducts into low-footprint, performance-enhancing biodegradable plastic additives, & are currently using whey-containing byproducts to produce PHB-bound masterbatches with high bio-based indigo concentrations. PHAs are suited to replace upwards of 90% of plastic cosmetic packaging, as well as a large number of outdoors, foodservice, medical, & agricultural goods, and current market trends indicate the consumer 3D printing industry as a high-potential beachhead given its familiarity with bioplastics, small volume requirements, high margins, & low regulatory barriers.
RenewCO2 (United States)
RenewCO₂ is revolutionizing monomer production from carbon dioxide emissions with its Electrocatalytic Carbon Utilization Technology (eCUT) that is low cost, energy efficient, and carbon negative.
RiKarbon (United States)
RiKarbon, Inc. is commercializing proprietary technologies for manufacturing sustainable and upcycled products from waste feedstocks to substitute petroleum-based resources used in everything from cosmetics to packaging materials. The company’s initial product offering includes (1) agricultural waste derived 100% bio-based emollients for natural and safer cosmetics and (2) post-consumer plastics’ hydrolytically breakdown plastics building block feedstock for high value renewable polymers. Our technology platforms are protected by Composition of Matter & Mfg. Processes.
Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Akron Ascent Innovations (United States)
Akron Ascent Innovations has developed a new adhesive technology platform offering a unique combination of high strength, excellent removability and reusability on a wide range of surfaces.
Colorifix Limited (United Kingdom)
Colorifix uses a biological process to produce, deposit and fix pigments onto textiles.
Defunkify (United States)
Definkify believes that the toxins all of us put in, on and around our bodies matter. Starting from a clean slate, using the safest ingredients and then testing for performance as well as mixture toxicity, Defunkify makes cleaning products that are both high performance and eco-friendly.
Ecovia Renewables (United States)
Ecovia Renewables is an early-stage biotechnology company commercializing a proprietary bioprocess and companion chemistry platform to create a variety of biopolymer products for end-markets.
EmulGreen (Canada/Germany)
EmulGreen is a Canadian-German green chemistry startup that pushes towards a more sustainable chemicals sector with their current focus on emulsifiers.
Evolved by Nature (United States)
Their proprietary active Silk™ technology is base on pure, natural silk in liquid form, and is manufactured using water, salt and natural oil from cocoons that are by-products of the textile industry.
Genecis Bioindustries Inc. (Canada)
Genecis converts food waste into biodegradable plastics and other high value materials.
Iron Shell Material Technologies (United States)
Iron Shell Material Technologies is an early stage R&D startup focused on innovative iron-based, carbon-negative materials for construction and other industries.
Magnomer (United States)
Magnomer is a manufacturer of novel magnetic inks for plastic packaging for the circular economy.
Performance BioFilaments Inc. (Canada)
Performance BioFilaments Inc. is focused on the commercialization of Nanofibrillated Cellulose, which is a new biomaterial produced from renewable forestry feedstocks.
Visolis, Inc. (United States)
Visolis uses biology to manufacture high-performance materials.
VivaVax Inc. (Canada)
VivaVax is a biomaterials company developing next-generation surface coatings and novel biologic delivery platforms.
ACTICELL GmbH (Austria)
Acticell develops chemical procedures for the innovative surface treatment of cellulosic material.
Advonex International Corporation (Canada)
Advonex International develops and sells sustainable ingredients for lubricants, cosmetics, personal care products and other markets.
Checkerspot, Inc. (United States)
As a design-centric materials company, Checkerspot's applications development capability brings-to-life performance materials created through biology and chemistry.
Material Alchemy (United States)
Translating science into commercial products that use sustainable materials.
Modular Genetics, Inc. (United States)
Modular Genetics, Inc. uses its proprietary automated gene engineering system to create new products.
Nature Coatings (United States)
Nature Coatings develops high performing black pigments from wood waste.
Novomer, Inc. (United States)
Novomer is commercializing a family of high-performance, cost-competitive, environmentally-responsible polymers and chemicals based on a proprietary catalyst technology that utilizes bio-based raw materials.
Penelope Mimetics (United States)
Penelope Mimetics conducts research and development in synthetic biology that advances the technical maturity of sustainable supply chains.
Solugen, Inc. (United States)
Solugen produces high-performance chemicals from plant-derived substitutes, including their hydrogen peroxide technology.
SusTerea Biorenewables LLC (United States)
SusTerea uses the power of chemistry to create useful materials from biorenewable feedstocks, unlocking the potential of naturally-occurring sugars.
Tandem Repeat Technologies (United States)
Tandem Repeat focus on sustainable manufacturing to create programmable textiles.
Tethis, Inc. (United States)
Tethis develops and manufactures super-absorbent materials built from plant-based feedstock sources.
xF Technologies Inc. (United States)
xF Technologies Inc. is a technology development company utilizing sustainable chemistry to produce non-toxic specialty chemicals.
Chinova Bioworks (Canada)
Chinova Bioworks has developed a natural antimicrobial preservative using a fiber from mushrooms, chitosan. It's a broad-spectrum and clean label.
Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. (United States)
Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. creates novel, high-performing specialty chemicals from natural oils using a proprietary Nobel Prize-winning catalyst technology called olefin metathesis.
Hybrid Coating Technologies (United States)
Hybrid Coating Technologies (HCT) has developed, patented, and now sells the world’s first Green Polyurethane™ for foam, coatings, adhesives and sealants that does not use toxic isocyanates or volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
IMD Naturals (Germany)
IMD Natural Solutions specialized in nature-derived fine and specialty chemicals. to develop and produce innovative ingredients and extracts from micro-organisms and plants for the FMCG industry. Aquired by Lanxess in 2018.
The Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC) (United States)
The Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC) develops platform technology for the transformation of biomass to drop-in and novel biobased chemicals.
Kalion, Inc. (United States)
Kalion provides access to high purity glucaric acid from renewable resources for a wide range of applications.
LumiShield (United States)
LumiShield has developed a novel, chrome-free pretreatment process called Lumidize® to deliver powerful and economical corrosion prevention and improved paint adhesion.
mobius (United States)
Formerly known as Grow Bioplastics. mobius is creating renewable chemicals, materials, and energy from waste...starting with biodegradable plastics made from lignin.
Paxymer (Sweden)
Paxymer is a flame retardant synergistic technology for boosting the performance of halogen free flame retardants in plastics.
Poly6 (United States)
Poly6 is driving industry 4.0 additive manufacturing solutions for the most complex manufacturing processes in aviation and energy.
Sironix Renewables (United States)
Sironix Renewables produces bio-renewable surfactants for a broad range of markets with a commitment to environmental stewardship, safety, and performance.
Sylvatex (United States)
Sylvatex has developed a platform nanotechnology using biomass-derived inputs to manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy and enhance our environment by providing cheaper solutions.
Aequor, Inc (United States)
Aequor develops proprietary green chemical agents to replace toxic biocides.
Amyris, Inc (United States)
From plant-sugars to anti-malarial drugs, Amyris' proprietary process of engineering organisms (yeast) uses renewably-sourced carbon from plants to make sustainable, custom molecules that allow customers to make better, more effective products that are better for people and better for the planet.
Biosynthetic Technologies (United States)
Biosynthetic Technologies is commercializing revolutionary renewable chemical technologies by converting plant-derived fatty acids into high-performance synthetic oils able to replace petroleum-based fluids common in motor oil, industrial lubricants, personal care products and other chemical applications; with safer, cleaner alternatives.
Connora Technologies (United States)
Connora Technologies is a venture backed, next-generation chemical company with expertise in design of performance thermoset materials. Their revolutionary Recyclamine® polymer technology forms the basis for creating a new market around transformable and reusable thermoset plastics. Aditya Birla Chemicals Thailand Limited acquired Connora Technologies’ Recyclamine technology in July 2019.
GFBiochemicals (The Netherlands)
GFBiochemicals produces levulinic acid derivatives at commercial scale directly from biomass.
Mango Materials (United States)
Mango Materials is transforming waste biogas into eco-friendly, affordable materials while creating a positive environmental impact.
P2 Science, Inc. (United States)
P2 Science has developed a set of unique chemical process technologies for converting renewable feedstocks into high-value, specialty chemicals, including flavor and fragrance ingredients, cosmetics ingredients and renewable monomers.
Renmatix (Canada)
Renmatix uses water and science to create powerful plant-based ingredients from under-used plant materials.
Rennovia (United States)
Rennovia focused its unique High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) capabilities to develop breakthrough catalysts and processes for the production of cost advantaged “drop-in” chemicals from sugars. Filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
Resinate Materials Group (United States)
Resinate Materials Group is committed to advancing the use of recycled content in specialty polyols, the backbone of materials such as coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers and foams. Acquired by Carlysle Construction Materials in January 2020.Replace this text with the accordion content.