Member Spotlight: Solugen
BioMADE member organization Solugen is the world’s first carbon-negative molecule factory, using proprietary engineered enzymes to produce green building materials, clean water, personal care items, high-performance bioplastics, and more.
With several products already on the market, Solugen is showing that it's possible to solve a problem many synthetic biology companies struggle with: scaling-up from lab scale to industrial scale while remaining cost-competitive.
“Companies used to have to make the choice between high-efficiency cheap chemicals, or green chemicals that required a premium. Solugen has changed the paradigm by creating carbon-negative products that are non-toxic and perform better than the alternatives,” said Scott Robertson, Director of Government Commercialization at Solugen. “We’re a shining example that this fundamental compromise that we’ve been dealing with since the industrial revolution is no longer true.”
The chemicals industry is the third-largest contributor to global carbon emissions. By harnessing the power of enzymes to make unique molecules that would traditionally rely on petrochemistry, Solugen is working to reach its significant environment goals, including removing the CO2 equivalent of taking two million cars off the road.
“Our technology is flexible enough to custom-make enzymes that can address up to 90% of specialty chemicals worldwide,” added Robertson. “We have the ability to target exactly what we want to make, and to make a lot of it, all in a cost-advantage way.”
For a long time, there’s been a hypothetical promise around synthetic biology disrupting markets. With a process that is simpler, less intense, and lower risk – but with higher margins – Solugen is now proving it. By making scalable synthetic biology a reality, Solugen is bringing high-performing, cost-competitive, and carbon-negative products to the entire country.
Solugen became a BioMADE member in order to plug into the bioindustrial manufacturing ecosystem and help small companies who have promising small-scale ideas grow. They’re looking forward to seeing BioMADE and its members push the industry forward and help bioindustrial manufacturing reach its full potential.
“The reality is, the American manufacturing renaissance is going to be bio-based,” concluded Robertson.