Bill Gates-Led Fund Invests in Synthetic Palm Oil Startup

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, helmed by Bill Gates, is leading an investment round of $20 million for C16 Biosciences, a New York-based startup, which is working on making sustainable alternatives for palm oil, according to Bloomberg.com. The three-year-old startup uses microbes to convert food waste and industrial byproducts into synthetic palm oil, which it claims can replace the plant-derived version. The investment will be used to grow the team and scale up the technology. It is one of a growing number of startups working on developing alternatives.

Interest in alternative to palm oil is growing as curbing its environmental impact becomes more critical. Breakthrough Energy Ventures wants to invest in companies that have the potential to cut emissions by as much as 500 million metric tons each year. The fund’s investors include Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Virgin Group boss Richard Branson and Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP. Sustainable palm oil is available in the market today, but its production is small and it is not cheap, reason why startups, such as C16, are trying something different. 

C16 uses a proprietary yeast which it feeds with carbon-containing waste. This could include excess food from supermarkets and homes or glycerol from biofuels production. The startup can make about 10 kg of its synthetic palm oil each week, which it plans to ramp up to 1,000 kilograms using the money invested. This would allow it to supply large businesses, starting with cosmetics companies and then the food industry. The use of waste ensures raw materials are cheap and lowers the environmental impact, said Shara Ticku, C16’s chief executive.