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

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. A half hour 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.

Trunk-load to truckload: In its early days, Solugen’s cofounders carried 5-gallon jugs to customers in their Subaru. Today, they produce enough 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 nonprofit group Operation USA.

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.

G2 applied for PPP loan after building $1 million staircase - Business InsiderG2, a software startup that raised $100 million, spent lavishly on things like a $1 million office staircase. Then it had layoffs and filed for a PPP loan. It shows the challenge of giving startups a coronavirus bailout. Online music school start up is running in the black (profit) in these hard COVID times Music in the living rooms makes families happy ! How are these stories not leading to a change in Founder/Unicorn mindset? Here's a 2 min read... Do you dream of Unicorns or Cockroaches, Zebras and Camels! business startups
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

Guide: How to create a pitch deck that will impress investors - 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. thank you very much for your work Merry Christmas))
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »