Solugen
Americas
Houston
,
United States
Scaleup
FOUNDED
2016
HEADCOUNT
101-500
FUNDING
Series D+
Keywords:
biocatalysis, enzymes, AI/ML, organic_acids, commodity_chemicals
BUSINESS
Founded in 2016 in Houston, Texas. Solugen operates a chemienzymatic manufacturing platform (branded "Bioforge") that combines computationally engineered cell-free enzymes with metal catalysts to convert plant-derived dextrose into organic acids and other specialty chemicals as replacements for petrochemical-derived products. The company secured a $213.6 million DOE loan guarantee for its second facility. Bioforge I in Houston (10 KTA capacity) has been operational since 2022. Bioforge Marshall, a 500,000 sq ft facility in Marshall, Minnesota adjacent to ADM's corn complex, broke ground in April 2024 with up to 120 KTA capacity targeted. Key products include bio-based hydrogen peroxide, chelates, and organic acids for water treatment, oil and gas, agriculture, construction, personal care, and defense applications. The company has also entered aerospace and defense through a partnership with American Rheinmetall Munitions for domestic energetics production.
BIOTECH INVOLVEMENT
Solugen uses a cell-free enzymatic process rather than whole-cell fermentation. Computationally designed enzymes perform the initial oxidation of sugar feedstocks in a cell-free reactor, followed by metal-catalyzed conversion steps to produce final products. The approach avoids the complexity of maintaining living organisms and achieves close to theoretical yields. The platform is explicitly positioned as an alternative to both petrochemistry and conventional fermentation.
TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
enzyme oxidation; Bioforge platform
PRIMARY PRODUCTS
Bio-based chemicals for multiple industries