• Syenta

  Participated · Series A · Apr 2026

  Syenta develops semiconductor packaging technology for the chip industry. The company recently raised $26 million in a funding round backed by a firm led by a former Intel CEO. It is expanding its physical presence by opening a 3,500-square-foot hub in Tempe (East Valley). The article focuses on this U.S. expansion and the new capital but does not provide revenue, user, or broader financial metrics. No founding year or additional operational metrics were included in the coverage. The raise and new facility indicate a move to scale operations and engage more directly with the U.S. market.

• Fortera

  Participated · Series C · Aug 2024

  Fortera manufactures a ReCarb® process that bolts onto existing cement plants to capture and mineralize industrial CO2 into a ready-to-use low-carbon cement called ReAct®. ReAct® green cement has about 70% less CO2 per ton than ordinary cement and is ASTM-approved as a partial cement substitute. The company is operating its first Redding ReCarb Plant in California and plans to deploy additional plants to scale global commercialization. Fortera emphasizes compatibility with existing feedstocks, capital investments, logistics, and sales networks to shorten the path to wide-scale adoption. Its technology operates at reduced kiln temperatures and is compatible with renewable energy, enabling further emissions reductions and potential zero CO2 production. Fortera’s development draws on more than 100,000 hours of R&D, over 100 issued and pending global patents, and over a decade of real-world product testing. Fortera develops a process that economically converts CO2 into a cement that can replace Ordinary Portland Cement. The company focuses on low‑carbon cement products and has created a first‑generation supplementary cementitious material. Fortera is building its first commercial plant in Redding, CA to manufacture that product, which it planned to make available in Q2 2022. The company is led by CEO Dr. Ryan Gilliam and was founded in May 2019. Fortera is headquartered in Campbell, CA and intends to use recent funding to continue developing and launching its low‑carbon cement.

• Samsara Eco

  Participated · Equity · Jun 2024

  Samsara Eco develops and sells fossil-free polymer resins and enzyme-based recycling technology (EosEco) intended to replace fossil fuel–derived plastics in packaging, textiles and other products. The company has built an enzyme library that can recycle polyester, nylon 6 and the more difficult nylon 6,6, and it launched its first product made from enzymatically recycled polyester in partnership with Lululemon. Samsara is constructing facilities in Jerrabomberra, New South Wales to provide partner testing and creation services, and plans additional facilities in Southeast Asia and its first North American facility. It was founded in 2020 in collaboration with the Australian National University, Woolworths and Main Sequence and currently employs about 60 staff across Australia and North America, with plans to expand headcount to 90 by the end of 2025. The company says its EosEco process operates at lower temperature and pressure than conventional recycling and achieves a life-cycle assessment well below the carbon footprint of virgin plastics. Samsara aims to scale to recycling 1.5 million tonnes of plastic per year by 2030 and is targeting expansion into apparel, consumer packaged goods, automotive and electronics sectors. Samsara Eco develops enzyme-based technology that rapidly depolymerizes plastics into their core molecules, enabling repeated recycling. The company launched last year in partnership with the Australian National University and has expanded an enzyme library now capable of depolymerizing several plastic types. It plans to build its first commercial recycling facility in Melbourne later this year, targeting full-scale production by 2023 and claiming the facility will infinitely recycle 20,000 tons of plastic starting in 2024. Initial processing will focus on PET and polyester, and the technology is described as tolerant of contamination and able to handle colored, mixed and multi-layered plastics. Samsara says the new funding will be used to expand its enzyme library, fund the commercial facility, grow its engineering team and expand operations into Europe and North America. The company is preparing to launch enzymatically recycled packaging with Woolworths next year and aims to recycle 1.5 million tons of plastic per year by 2030, with Woolworths committed to turning the first 5,000 tons into branded packaging. Samsara Eco has developed an enzyme-based process that breaks plastics into their molecular building blocks (monomers) for infinite recycling or upcycling. The company says its process achieves full depolymerization in about an hour at room temperature and can be run in a carbon-neutral way, saving an estimated three tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of plastic recycled. Launched in 2021, Samsara has a 13-person team of scientists, engineers and researchers, including collaborators from the Australian National University. It has commercial partnerships with Woolworths Group, which committed to using the first 5,000 tonnes of recycled Samsara plastic in own-brand packaging, and with Tennis Australia to recycle 5,000 bottles. Samsara raised $6 million to build its first recycling plant later this year and expects full-scale production to start in 2023; it is targeting an additional roughly $50 million raise later this year to fund a first commercial-scale facility to recycle 20,000 tonnes per annum. Investors named in the current raise include the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), W23 and Main Sequence.

• GoFIGR

  Participated · Seed · Jul 2023

  GoFIGR (formerly Flow of Work Co) builds a talent opportunity and insights platform that helps medium-to-large organisations (roughly 500–2,000 staff) map worker skills and connect employees to internal opportunities. The product is designed to increase retention and reduce the cost and complexity of company restructures by aligning skills to existing opportunities. The team launched an MVP in 2021, has secured client wins including The Motley Fool, and has received multiple accolades. Co-founders Helena Turpin and Nicolai complement each other, with Nicolai focused on product and operations and Helena leading fundraising and customer acquisition. GoFIGR recently closed an AU$2.8m seed round and is on track to reach AU$1m ARR, reflecting early commercial traction. The company developed its idea through Antler's design sprint process after Helena joined Antler Australia's second cohort in 2020.

• Pluton Biosciences

  Participated · Series A · May 2023

  Pluton Biosciences isolates and develops novel microorganisms to create agricultural products that improve soil and capture carbon. Their lead product is a microbial cover crop designed to sequester carbon and nitrogen in soils. The company reports highly repeatable lab and greenhouse data and plans field testing this year to quantify sequestration and soil impacts. R&D continues on microbes that generate durable carbon for long-term soil persistence and on a discovered molecule that acts as an insecticide against fall armyworm. Pluton raised a $16.5M Series A to commercialize its most promising finds after a $6.6M seed round in 2021. The company has doubled headcount from 8 to 17, doubled office and lab space, and expects to double staff again over the next year. Pluton Biosciences has developed a platform it calls a "Micromining engine" to create and screen small populations of microbes that are otherwise unculturable, then isolate and sequence the organisms or genes responsible for desired phenotypes. The company says its approach lets it access and grow the roughly 99.999% of microbes not currently culturable. Early demonstrations include microbes that kill mosquitoes and microbe groupings predicted to sequester carbon in soil. Pluton is working with Bayer AG on a microbe-based soil additive the company predicts could remove nearly two tons of carbon per acre per year while replenishing soil nutrients. The team plans to commercialize the mosquito-derived natural pesticide and expand beyond initial sampling sources. Pluton raised a $6.6 million seed round to scale operations, move part-time staff to full-time and build out its lab.

No current team members are available.