How Two Young Scientists Built A $250 Million Business Using Yeast To Clean Up Wastewater

  • 📰 Forbes
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 87 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 38%
  • Publisher: 53%

Malaysia News News

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News,Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Here's how 2 young scientists built a $250 million business using yeast to clean up wastewater by TheAlexKnapp

long standing poker game with a group of University of Texas Southwestern medical students in Dallas brought Gaurab Chakrabarti and Sean Hunt together. Wenly Ruan, Chakrabarti’s dissection lab partner and Hunt’s then-girlfriend , was the link. But soon Chakrabarti, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate researching a drug candidate for pancreatic cancer, and Hunt, a graduate student in chemical engineering at MIT, were geeking out over science.

Its revenue reached $12 million last year, largely from more than 30 mostly Texas-based energy and industrial customers that use its wastewater treatment product. Chakrabarti and Hunt—alumni of the Forbes Under 30 class of 2017—expect revenue to surpass $30 million this year, though the company is not yet profitable as it spends heavily to expand.

By September 2018, Solugen was doing so well that it needed a bigger space and, with a $19 million funding round in the works, had the cash to cover expansion. On the Loopnet commercial real estate site, Hunt scoured the Houston area for options. Thirty minutes later, he was touring a decommissioned chemical manufacturing plant that had been used to turn oil into plastics, with Chakrabarti’s father, Gopendu, a chemical engineer and entrepreneur.

Unlike phosphates, such as hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid, or HEDP, there are also environmental advantages. The process of making one ton of Solugen’s wastewater treatment sequesters the equivalent of 1.35 tons of carbon dioxide, versus 3 tons emitted for HEDP, according to a report from Life Cycle Analysis. That’s an advantage for companies evaluated by governments and investors on environmental impact.

Trunkload to Truckoad: In its early days, Solugen's cofounders carried five-gallon jugs to customers in their Suburu. Today, they produce for tanker trucks.During the pandemic, Solugen also began producing hand sanitizer by combining its hydrogen peroxide with alcohol from a local ethanol facility. The company produced more than 100,000 gallons, most of which it donated to local healthcare facilities facing shortages with the help of the non-profit group Operation USA.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

TheAlexKnapp TachaMoney TachaMoney So it has been verified by Google that through all the ex-housemates networth Symply_Tacha is the richest so far.

TheAlexKnapp I will brainstorm brand names business names or company names branding

TheAlexKnapp Walking candida!

TheAlexKnapp Do be huh say what now? Uh...?

Houston-based Solugen is making cheaper, more effective industrial chemicals to help scrub everything from pools and hot tubs to oil and gas companies’ wastewater

TheAlexKnapp

TheAlexKnapp Congrats entrepreneurs

TheAlexKnapp End Qualified Immunity.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 394. in MY

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

How Two Young Scientists Built A $250 Million Business Using Yeast To Clean Up WastewaterHouston-based Solugen is making cheaper, more effective industrial chemicals to help scrub everything from pools and hot tubs to oil and gas companies’ wastewater. Up next: fertilizers. interesting
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »

Top business news: Tech salaries, Conde Nast video, clean energy - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »