GreenTech Startup Solugen has announced the raising of over $350 million in Series C funding to decarbonize the chemicals industry.
The round was co-led by GIC and Baillie Gifford, counting with the participation of other investors like Carbon Direct Capital Management, Refactor Capital, Temasek Holdings, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and Fifty Years. BofA Securities, Inc. played as sole placement agent on the transaction.
Founded in 2016 by Gaurab Chakrabarti, M.D., Ph.D., and Sean Hunt, Ph.D., the startup’s mission is to solve one of the biggest climate problems on the planet: emissions from chemical production. According to IEA, the chemical industry accounted for 880 million tonnes of CO2 in 2018, the third-largest source of global CO2 emissions.
The company plans to decarbonize the chemicals industry through its patented Bioforge processes, which get bio-based feedstocks to produce chemicals. Not only are the solutions cost-competitive but they also are environmentally-friendly products that can drastically reduce or eliminate emissions. Dr. Gaurab Chakrabarti, CEO, and co-founder at Solugen said in this regard:
“Our breakthroughs in enzyme and metal catalyst engineering allow us to produce chemicals in a more sustainable and profitable way. We can now deliver for our customers’ performance benefits, cost savings, and most importantly, lower carbon footprints.”
The new funds will be used to boost the development of its Bioforge technology platform, which is used to offer the company’s customers products with lower-carbon and carbon-negative chemicals materials, as well as while expanding the reach of Solugen’s product portfolio.
With its Bioforge platform, the company is currently able to address a significant portion of the chemical products on the market as well as launch new bio-advantaged products. As a result, the solution developed by the GreenTech startup can decarbonize some of the largest carbon-emitting segments of the modern economy, helping companies to be responsible stewards of the environment and their local communities.
