Participated · Seed · Oct 2022

Mars Materials develops downstream industrial feedstocks by repurposing captured CO2 and bio-based feedstocks to produce chemicals including acrylonitrile, acrylamide, and carbon-fiber precursors. The company is commercializing a patented nitrilation process intended to lower costs and process emissions compared with incumbent routes. With an Oakland base and PBC status, Mars says its technology can enable low-cost, low-carbon acrylonitrile that unlocks expanded use of carbon fiber in vehicles, transmission lines, hydrogen storage, and building materials. The company aims to sequester a gigaton of captured CO2 into long-lived products and is producing samples for testing with global acrylamide manufacturers as it advances commercialization. Leadership includes CEO and co-founder Aaron Fitzgerald and VP of Feedstock Development and co-founder Kristian Gubsch, who emphasize both climate impact and commercial opportunity. Fitzgerald and Gubsch were announced as Breakthrough Energy Fellows, which Mars says will aid collaboration toward achieving its commercialization milestones.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2022

Bucha Bio is a Houston, TX-based biomaterials science company developing biobased materials for multiple industries. It is developing two materials, SHORAI—an alternative to animal leather, plastic leather, or other synthetic materials—and HIKARI, a translucent material with processing capabilities that will be formally introduced in November. The company raised $1.1M in Seed funding to accelerate its move to market. Backers include New Climate Ventures, Lifely VC, Beni VC, Prithvi VC, Asymmetry VC, Alwyn Capital, and Chris Zarou. Bucha Bio plans to use the funds to secure co-manufacturers to scale material production and to support construction of a new Houston headquarters. It also plans to enable new form factors, including biofibers, biopackaging, and hard biocomposites, targeting industries such as fashion, automotive, home goods, electronics, and construction. Bucha Bio develops novel biomaterials from fermented bacterial nanocellulose and plants. The company designs next-generation materials with applications in textiles, packaging and hard construction materials. An expansive library of plant-based formulations combined with a proprietary consortium of bacteria underpins its material innovations. Bucha offers a signature luxury biotextile, MIRAI™, inspired by the Japanese word 'future' and the Italian phrase 'look with emphasis', which is available for reservation. Founded in 2019 and a graduate of SOSV's IndieBio program, the New York-based company plans to scale production of MIRAI™. It raised $550K in funding to support that scale-up.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2022

BioLumic's core product is its Light Signal Platform and proprietary UV treatment systems, which use short-duration UV exposures and data-driven Light Signal Recipes to influence plant biology and genetics without chemicals or genetic engineering. The platform is applied to both seedlings and seeds and is designed to improve crop consistency, increase yield and strengthen disease resistance. The company intends to commercialize the technology across crops including cannabis, soybean, corn, canola and strawberry, and to deepen relationships with cultivation leaders and technology partners in cannabis. BioLumic plans to expand its library of Light Signal Recipes and advance a new generation of recipes focused on photosynthetic and nutrient use efficiency. Financially, BioLumic completed a $13.5M Series B to accelerate commercial growth for its patented technology. The company was founded in 2013 and is led by CEO Steve Sibulkin, with offices in the United States and New Zealand. BioLumic develops a patented ultraviolet (UV) crop-yield enhancement system rooted in research into UV photomorphogenesis. Its seed-focused technology precisely applies UV light treatments to seedlings (initially lettuce, broccoli, strawberry and tomato) to induce root and leaf development and activate secondary metabolism for long-term crop benefits. The company reports commercial use with large-scale produce growers and processors in California and Mexico and yield gains of up to 22 percent; commercial trials are also under way in Spain and the U.K. BioLumic intends to use new funding to accelerate research and commercialization and to expand into row crop and vegetable seeds in the years ahead. It plans to grow its team in New Zealand and at a new U.S. office in California and to intensify global deployment of its UV technologies. The company was spun out of AgTech research at Massey University by Dr. Jason Wargent and is led by CEO Warren Bebb.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

Capra Biosciences builds a continuous-flow biofilm bioreactor platform aimed at changing the economics of making sustainable petrochemical replacements using biology. Its first product is retinol, a cosmetic ingredient the company produces biologically rather than from fossil fuels. The company plans to build a modular production-scale reactor and extend capabilities to produce aviation and industrial lubricants in future phases. Capra says its platform organism and modular reactors avoid many traditional bioreactor scale-up challenges and allow capacity to grow by adding units. The company emerged from the IndieBio program backed by SOSV and is based in the Prince William Science Accelerator in Manassas, VA. Capra also supports development through a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2022

Carbon Upcycling develops a platform system that transforms industrial byproducts and captured CO₂ into high‑quality, low‑carbon supplementary cementitious materials for cement manufacturing. Its flagship commercial project at the Ash Grove Mississauga Cement Plant is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2026 and has the capacity to produce up to 30,000 tonnes of SCMs annually. The company has secured asset‑backed financing of up to USD 10 million from ATEL Ventures to support that first commercial deployment. Carbon Upcycling is backed by a syndicate of strategic investors, including Builders Vision, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Climate Investment, Oxy Low‑Carbon Ventures, Amplify Capital, Clean Energy Ventures, CRH Ventures, Cemex Ventures, and TITAN Group. Management frames the financing as reinforcing the commercial readiness and financeability of its technology. The company aims to use the commercial project as the foundation to scale localized, low‑carbon cement manufacturing infrastructure across North America and beyond.