Solugen produces water treatment chemicals and other chemicals from recycled feedstocks.
Todd Spoth as Solugen
A Houston-based startup called Solugen has secured a $214 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy through the program, which is known for funding electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla in its early years.
Solugen CEO Gaurab Chakrabarti and Chief Technology Officer Sean Hunt said the company will use the loan to build a “bioforge,” or sustainable, factory in Marshall, Minnesota.
The company converts corn sugar, also known as glucose, into sustainable chemicals that are key ingredients in the production of concrete, industrial and wastewater treatment, and household detergents.
Currently, Solugen has about 200 full-time employees, mostly in Texas, with long-term plans to add about 60 more employees in Minnesota. The co-founders told CNBC that the new facility is close to large U.S. manufacturers such as General Mills and 3M, which served as inspiration for Hunter and Chakrabarti.
As it expands its operations northward, Solugen is also designing and developing other enzymes also derived from recycled feedstocks. The CEO said they are currently focusing on extracting new sustainable chemicals from sugar that can be used to make plastics and nylon without leaving behind heavy metals or harmful substances such as PFA.
Before locking in the massive DOE loan, Solugen had raised more than $640 million in venture capital from the likes of Baillie Gifford, GIC, Temasek, BlackRock, Founders Fund, Fifty Years and Refactor.
Chris Creed, chief investment officer of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office, said Solugen is one of about 20 companies that has received the agency’s “industrial decarbonization” loan commitment and is the only company focused on chemical production.
“As an organization, our goal is to promote a clean energy economy,” Creed said. “We provide debt financing to American entrepreneurs and companies to build projects in the United States, employ American workers and provide community benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. industry emissions.
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