Companies
1849 bio designs microbes enabling cheap metal extraction allowing miners to unlock value from low quality copper and gold ores. Surprisingly, the mining industry is one of the largest scale users of biotech in the world with biomining processes accounting for ~1% of global copper production. Biomining is ultra-low cost, running around ~$1/ton of ore vs ~$7/ton for conventional processes. Unfortunately, while biomining is cheap, it can’t be applied to over 80% of copper ores, leaving vast resources without profitable extraction methods. An estimated ~$800B of copper sit today in waste materials and stockpiles with negative unit economics. While a great deal of effort has been spent on optimizing microbial metal extraction processes, very little effort has been spent on optimizing the microbes themselves. To change that, we’re creating new biotech tools and platforms applied directly to the types of biology most relevant to miners. This enables us to develop new microbes and tackle some of the most difficult problems in biomining, unlocking billions in value from unprofitable resources while being more environmentally friendly than conventional processes. We’re world class microbial engineers. We met while doing our PhDs in synthetic biology, where we spent our time applying and developing the most advanced bioengineering technologies to engineer living cells.
ALT TEX is a Toronto-based biomaterials startup that has developed the world’s first biodegradable and carbon neutral fabric, engineered from the world’s largest landfill contributor - food waste. Polyester alone makes up 60% of the $2.5 trillion fashion industry and is the biggest blocker preventing brands from meeting sustainability mandates. The patent-pending ALT TEX fermentation technology creates a polyester alternative that works with the existing infrastructure to supply a sustainable, high performance and cost competitive polyester replacement to fashion brands, at scale. The product solves key problems for fashion brands, consumers, and the environment: (1) Fashion brands: ALT TEX sells fabric to fashion brands, allowing them to differentiate via sustainable options (sustainable fashion growing 11% CAGR) and hit sustainability targets, without sacrificing performance or changing their current supply chain. (2) Consumer: The ALT TEX fabric is projected to be half the price vs. other specialized sustainable alternatives (due to low-cost input and scalability), meaning greater accessibility. (3) Environment: A single shirt produced with ALT TEX fabric can divert 1 kg of food waste from landfills, 9 kg of carbon emissions from the air, and 4 g of micro-plastics from our waterways. Co-founders Myra and Avneet have worked together managing teams and projects for six years, with backgrounds in serial entrepreneurship, corporate sales at Fortune 500 companies, textile manufacturing and biochemistry. To date, ALT TEX has created their first fabric prototype that’s 70% stronger than cotton, secured $1M in LOIs and raised $2.3M.
AON3D is a rapidly growing startup on a mission to put industrial 3D printing capabilities into the hands of those who need it most. Our technology has made it 10 times cheaper than before to 3D print with advanced thermoplastics, and we continue to push the boundaries on commercializing new materials for 3D printing. Our customers span the globe and are pioneers in the application of 3D printing in their field – from automotive tooling to aircraft interiors, foundry molds to public art installations, prosthetics to guides for radiation and surgical oncology. AON3D is a graduate of Y-Combinator and venture-backed by top investors from Silicon Valley.
Abatable is a carbon offsetting procurement platform which connects companies with carbon project developers of high quality carbon offsets. Abatable facilitates procurement decisions by offering third party quality assessments of projects and by standardizing multi-year purchase agreements and an automated RFP platform. The team has extensive experience advising institutional investors on nature-based carbon removal and impact investment portfolios and is backed by leading investors like YCombinator, BlueBear Capital and Global Founders Capital.
Airmada Inc. was founded out of MIT by Dan Danay. The mission of the company is to revolutionize commercial drone services by enabling efficient and reliable drone use for commercial and industrial purposes. Airmada designs and builds automated ground stations for drones. Our stations protect the drone, replace its batteries and launch missions. Airmada deploys these ground stations on mission sites to capture data, routinely and on-demand, operating drones autonomously and remotely.
We build engines that have the potential to slash 33% or worldwide CO2 emissions - cost-effectively. First, we help food and mining companies cut both their heat costs *and* CO2 emissions by replacing gas-fired steam boilers with our proprietary high temperature heat pumps. Our heat pumps make up to 3x more heat with the same amount of electricity, even at up to 1000°F. Once the heat pump market is mature, we will address the seasonal energy storage market. Our storage units are based on the exact same proprietary engine we use for our heat pumps. They work with solar and wind, and replace lithium-ion batteries, fossil-fired power plants, CO2 capture and storage, and fuel procurement, with a cheaper, sustainable and more reliable alternative, which can be sited anywhere. The first opportunity is a high-margin market worth 3% of worldwide CO2. The second is a much bigger market worth 30% of worldwide CO2. By the time all cars become electric, it will be even more. Our key is we are building the first Stirling engine to reach 86% of the Carnot efficiency, compared to 64% for the state of the art. We do all that while significantly decreasing costs, and increasing reliability. Please see Airthium's website for more information.
Airware offers commercial drone solutions, enabling enterprises to take full advantage of aerial data for any business application. Airware’s solutions combine hardware, software, and cloud services to enable companies to efficiently manage and safely and reliably operate commercial drones at scale.
Alba Orbital is building the world's largest earth observation constellation, imaging everywhere on earth, every 15 minutes. We can see events within minutes such as wildfires in real time and have signed >$85m of LOIs, with both government and commercial customers paying pre-orders for imagery. To date we have launched 41 satellites into orbit (more than any other seed stage company in history), with more launching in 2024 onwards. We have launched a number of technology demonstration imaging satellites called Unicorns, which are the world's most advanced satellite under 1kg ever flown in orbit.
Albedo builds and operates satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) — a new orbital layer much closer to Earth than traditional satellites in LEO. Flying lower unlocks sharper imagery, faster communications, and real-time maneuverability with smaller, more efficient hardware. VLEO is naturally self-cleaning and resilient, offering a sustainable alternative to crowded low Earth orbit - providing diversification and redundancy for critical systems that we rely on in higher orbits. With the only flight proven VLEO system on the market, Albedo is creating a new orbital infrastructure designed for speed, precision, and resilience.
Alchemy is a nanotechnology company based in Kitchener, Ontario with core operations in the automotive and defense sectors. Automotive - With the widespread adoption of ADAS systems in new vehicles, the cost of replacing a windshield in new vehicles has tripled to $1500+. We have developed a windshield protection film product line called ExoShield to help vehicle owners protect their windshields. Our ExoShield GT3 film is sold through 400+ aftermarket installers and car dealerships in 56 countries that carry and install it for vehicle owners. For Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco owners (google: broken windshield club), our ExoShield ULTRA DIY kits are available via our website and dropshipping partners. Defense - Over the last 3 years, we have been working with the Canadian Armed Forces to develop an infrared camouflage technology. We have received two contracts from CAF to develop our technology. Our solution has the ability to be integrated into the uniform directly (adding just 5-10g of weight vs. 600-18,000 kg of weight for other alternatives), has outperformed all existing NATO alternatives in multiple CAF field trials, and is receiving support from major elements of CAF for our next contract. This technology can also be adapted for other individual camouflage integrations (face paint and individual nettings) and for mobile camouflage applications (vehicle nettings and vehicle paints).
Alga Biosciences is a fast-moving startup focused on transforming the agricultural industry. Our mission is to make an immediate, dramatic impact on global methane emissions produced by enteric fermentation in partnership with the cattle industry. We believe in leveraging biology to tackle the world’s biggest problems.
Apolink is building the world’s most interoperable satellite relay network in low Earth orbit. Our hybrid communication architecture combines RF and optical inter-satellite links to enable real-time, continuous connectivity for satellite operators across industries.
Detect and safely block unwanted drone intrusions. Track down and arrest unauthorized operators. Developed by experts from Israel Defense Forces and currently serving more than 25 countries, ApolloShield is the world leader in detecting and blocking drone intrusions, as well as tracking down and arresting unauthorized drone operators.
We're designing swarms of tiny satellites which will work together to create the first real-time, high-resolution 3D model of the earth. By using clusters of satellites to image the same place on the earth at the exact same time, we can improve image quality by more than 60x over conventional techniques. This technology will massively increase the amount of affordable, high-quality 3D data, enabling a host of new applications across an array of industries, including AR/XR/Autonomy, Defense, Climate/ESG, and Insurance Analytics.
Arylla has created a printable tag that can be scanned with any phone using our API. We piggyback on legacy commercial printers to get our tag onto products at scale and license our API to developers who build services on top of our tag. We are 10x less expensive and much more scalable than alternatives like NFC.
Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization. Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world’s best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock, and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.