Led · Equity · Feb 2025

Tereform is a Denver, CO-based textile recycling startup developing a chemical recycling process for mixed-material, hard-to-recycle textiles. The process, developed by scientists in the Department of Energy’s BOTTLE Consortium and spun out of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory via the West Gate accelerator, uses oxygen and biobased solvents to break down synthetics with complex additives such as spandex, prints, finishes, and dyes. This approach enables creation of recycled polymers from waste textiles while maintaining competitive costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to new plastic production. Tereform is working with brand partners to scale the process using both postconsumer and postindustrial waste and plans to outfit a pilot facility to increase process scale and produce prototype garments from fully textile-to-textile recycled materials. The company intends to use recent funding to accelerate scaleup for applications in the automotive apparel and home-goods industries and to expand the team as it grows operational capabilities. Tereform was founded in 2022 by Kevin Sullivan.

Led · Equity · Nov 2024

Boston Materials is a materials-science company focused on solving thermal bottlenecks in advanced semiconductor packaging with its patented Z-axis Carbon Fiber™ architecture and proprietary liquid-metal alloys. Its flagship product line, Liquid Metal ZRT®, has already reached the market with the first-generation LMZ1100, which the company claims provides more than a 10 °C cooling improvement for kilowatt-scale, liquid-cooled accelerators while maintaining compatibility with high-volume manufacturing. The firm is now developing a second-generation Liquid Metal ZRT aimed at high-power ASICs and GPUs used in AI and HPC data centers. Through a new strategic partnership with Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Boston Materials will leverage MCG’s global electronic-materials supply chain and upcoming semiconductor-packaging labs in Asia to accelerate product qualification and scale deployment, particularly across APAC. Mitsubishi Chemical’s validation testing has reportedly confirmed the performance gains over incumbent and next-gen thermal interface materials, positioning Boston Materials as a key supplier for next-generation AI infrastructure. CEO Anvesh Gurijala highlights thermal management as a critical constraint on AI growth and sees this collaboration as a catalyst for revenue scale-up and expanded U.S. manufacturing.

Participated · Series A · Jan 2024

Elo Life Systems, launched in 2021 and based in North Carolina, is an ingredient company developing plant-based sweeteners, proteins, natural preservatives, flavors and bioactive compounds. Its first product, a monk fruit–derived natural sweetener the company says is 300 times sweeter than sugar without calories, is slated to launch in 2026. Elo Life leverages molecular farming, gene‑editing and precision fermentation to produce the sweetener in easier-to-grow crops such as watermelons and sugar beets to reduce cost and carbon footprint. The company has partnerships including with Dole to create a fungal‑resistant Cavendish banana and with a large NGO to improve staple crops like cassava and cowpea in developing countries. After three years focused on R&D, Elo plans to spend the next two years building supply chains, engaging growers and processors, working with ingredient companies and securing regulatory approvals ahead of commercialization. Financially, Elo has raised $45 million in venture-backed capital to date. Elo Life Systems develops a monk‑fruit‑inspired high‑intensity sweetener and Cavendish bananas engineered to resist Fusarium wilt using a proprietary gene‑editing platform called ARCUS and other breeding technologies. The company produces the sweetener pathway in scalable plant systems (currently a watermelon variety) and is exploring additional expression hosts such as sorghum, sugar beet and tomatoes. Elo is partnering with Dole to send disease‑resistant banana varieties to field trials in Honduras and aims to assess field resistance, yield and quality by the end of the next season. The sweetener is claimed to be 200–300× sweeter than sucrose with high mogroside V purity and is undergoing the FDA GRAS process, targeting market entry in 2025. Elo was spun out of Precision Bio in December 2021 and is based in North Carolina. The company plans to open a Series B later this year to further scale the sweetener and expand its R&D pipeline, and it recently appointed Joan Braca as an independent director.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

Gozen makes Lunaform, a microbial cellulose biomaterial produced by microorganisms during a 10-day fermentation process; the company says the material is vegan, plastic-free and contains no toxic chemicals. Lunaform is presented as a singular, fully formed sheetable material with customizable thickness and texture, currently produced in 13-square-foot sheets and as thin as 0.2 mm. Gozen says the material delivers strength and flexibility superior to composite plant-based leathers and was unveiled at Balenciaga’s Summer 24 show during Paris Fashion Week. The startup plans to target both the fashion and automotive industries and is applying for patents in multiple countries after securing patents in Turkey. Gozen, originally from Turkey and now ported to San Francisco, plans a production facility in Turkey with capacity of up to 1 million square feet. The company has raised seed funding to support scaling but no revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2023

Andes develops beneficial microorganisms that grow with plant roots to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into minerals in the ground, providing a high‑permanence carbon removal solution. The company deploys its technology across working farmland without disrupting existing agricultural practices and reports having removed more than 50,000 tonnes of CO2 to date. Andes has partnered with farmers across the Midwest on 25,000 acres and says enrolling in its Carbon Removal Program can increase farmers' net income by up to 25%. The company also reports a 3X increase in farmer interest this year. In parallel with carbon removal, Andes is developing biological nitrogen technology that integrates with seeds. Andes plans to use the new funding to expand partnerships with farmers, continue developing its microorganism technology, and make its carbon removal credits available to organizations of all sizes. Andes develops a seed-applied microbial technology called Microprime that integrates a library of microbes with seeds so they colonize roots and enable biological nitrogen fixation, reducing reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. The company’s first-generation Microprime-treated corn seeds deliver the equivalent of 30 to 50 lbs/acre of nitrogen; Andes is developing second-generation microbes aimed at roughly doubling that amount. Andes is also engineering microbial strains intended for nature-based permanent carbon capture to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere into soil, initially focusing on microbial-powered corn crops with the potential for gigaton-scale capture if deployed at scale. The technology is positioned as a scalable, grower-facing solution that can save time and input costs while lowering agriculture’s greenhouse-gas footprint; the article notes synthetic fertilizers account for roughly 3% (1.5 gigatons) of global emissions. Andes plans to scale its self-sustaining, nitrogen-fixing seeds across the U.S., expand into South America, and continue R&D on its carbon-capture technology funded by the recent investment. No operating revenue or user metrics are reported in the article.