Startup

Replacing crude oil with local plants to make chemicals  

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, I welcome my former PhD mentor, Dr. Thomas Seidensticker from TU Dortmund, to explore how oleochemistry can provide a sustainable, locally grown alternative to crude oil for the chemical industry. While the traditional chemical sector relies heavily on cheap fossil fuels, plant oils naturally offer closely related hydrocarbon chains that can be functionalized for everyday products like surfactants, cosmetics, and polymers. However, shifting away from crude oil presents the unique challenge of dealing with complex, inhomogeneous fatty acid profiles that constantly vary by plant origin and season. We discuss the strategic importance of feedstock sovereignty and how diverting plant oils from low-value biodiesel combustion into long-lasting chemical products can create vital carbon sinks to help meet future renewable carbon targets.
How do you transform these varied plant oils into the standardized building blocks the conventional industry demands? Thomas explains the breakthrough potential of utilizing the unsaturated carbon-carbon double bonds in plant oils, highlighting technologies like cross-metathesis and his own university spinoff, Simplyfined. We also dive into the historical 1938 roots of homogeneous catalysis, the logistical hurdles of scaling pilot volumes, and why agile startups are essential for taking the disruptive technological risks that large, slow-moving chemical corporations currently avoid.

Replacing chemical plants with methanol-eating bacteria

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, I welcome Dr. Ronja Rappold, co-founder of TENO Bioworks, to explore how microorganisms and synthetic biology can transform alternative carbon sources into high-value chemicals. While biological manufacturing is well known for producing life-saving pharmaceuticals like insulin or traditional fermented goods, shifting base and fine chemical production away from fossil fuels presents a unique challenge. Relying solely on agricultural sugars introduces significant “food vs. fuel” conflicts and risks breaching critical planetary boundaries, including land use, freshwater consumption, and nutrient cycles. Ronja and her team address this by targeting C1 feedstocks—specifically green methanol derived from captured CO₂.
How do you teach an industrial workhorse to live on a completely foreign feedstock? Ronja explains TENO Bioworks’ approach to performing a metabolic “heart transplant” on Escherichia coli (E. coli). They successfully rewired E. coli to utilize methanol as its primary carbon and energy source. We also dive into the downstream engineering required to produce target chemicals like lactic acid, the advantages of using raw, unpurified methanol over traditional metal catalysts.

Stopping PFAS at the Source: Innovating Industrial Wastewater Treatment

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, I met with Dr. Rhea Machado, the CEO and co-founder of Porelio, to discuss their solution for removing forever chemicals from our drinking water. We explore the widespread issue of PFAS accumulating in our water, our food, and even unborn children, and how short-chain PFAS remain a massive challenge because traditional methods like activated carbon and ion exchange resins fail to capture them. Rhea shares Porelio’s journey as a spinoff from the Technical University Berlin, where they took highly efficient but traditionally hard-to-produce functionalized ordered meso-porous silica and successfully scaled it for industrial use.

The conversation dives deep into Porelio’s innovative approach, which uses an ordered pore structure equipped with engineered functional groups to quickly and selectively catch specific target molecules, whether that is toxic PFAS in industrial wastewater or valuable precious metals. We discuss the multifaceted challenges of scaling a B2B chemistry startup, from defining unit economics to simultaneously scaling production and navigating regulatory pathways like REACH, all while trying to find innovative R&D partners in a conservative industry.

Scaling Sustainable Chemistry: How Startups Can Transform the Industry

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, I met with Stefan Weber and Martin Bellof, the founders of Chemstars, to discuss how to overcome common hurdles for founders in the chemical space. We explore the massive transformation currently underway in the chemical industry. Startups are a vital missing puzzle piece to help the industry move toward circularity, climate neutrality, and industrial resilience. Stefan and Martin explain how they help connect the startup ecosystem with the chemical industry to bring scientific innovations from the lab to the market.
The conversation dives deep into the specific challenges chemistry founders face, such as lacking industry know-how, navigating a highly regulated market, and securing the capital needed to scale technical processes from the lab to industrial facilities. The episode concludes with actionable advice on the importance of getting out of the lab to validate ideas with potential customers. We also discuss the need to simplify complex science through storytelling and how to leverage early-stage networks.

How innovative coatings are stopping microplastic pollution of the Ocean

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, I met with Dr. Christina Linke, a co-founder of Clean Ocean Coatings, to discuss how innovative chemistry can solve the pressing issue of biofouling in the shipping industry. We explore the massive environmental and economic costs of marine organisms attaching to ship hulls, which increases drag and leads to an estimated $150 billion in annual damages. Christina shares her journey from being a food scientist to discovering a nanostructured material, ultimately leading her to launch the startup during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The conversation dives deep into the devastating effects of traditional self-polishing coatings, which intentionally wash off over time to leach toxic biocides and microplastics into the oceans. To solve this, Clean Ocean Coatings developed a completely biocide-free, solvent-free hard coating that creates a super smooth surface, allowing for easy cleaning and generating significant fuel savings. The episode concludes with a look at the conservative nature of the maritime industry, the flawed regulatory challenges surrounding the cleaning of ship hulls, and actionable advice for scientists looking to bring their research to market through university startup hubs.

How to bring chemical innovations from research to application

/

In this episode of Innovate and React, i am talking with Dr. Petra Ryl, innovation and talent lead at greenCHEM Berlin. We explore how innovation is transforming the chemical industry and how research from universities can be applied practically. Petra shares her journey from academic biochemical research to working at greenCHEM, explaining the importance of sustainable materials and the transition from fossil-based to regenerative resources. They discuss the role of disruptive innovation, the advantages of startups in driving change, and how greenCHEM supports entrepreneurs through various programs, including technology transfer, academic partnerships, and a robust network. Highlights include specific examples of pioneering startups within the greenCHEM network and advice for researchers considering entrepreneurial pathways.

Scroll to Top