FIB-SOL Life Technologies
FIB-SOL Life Technologies is a Biotechnology Company headquartered in Chennai, India. FIB-SOL aims to translate advanced material technologies from analysis to industry. They style nanofiber platforms to create lightweight delivery formulations for agricultural inputs such as bio-fertilizers, pesticides and alternative plant growth stimulants. To develop an associate degree innovative and integrative research approach to offer technical solutions to burning problems in the agriculture and healthcare sector. The company is founded in 2013 by Dr Kavitha Sairam who is currently CEO and Director and Anant Raheja who is current CTO and Director of the company. And the company manufactures Agri-GEL Fertilizer, Gel Drops & Ultraviolet Sterilizers from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
A startup, keen on solving grassroots level to industrial-scale problems using deep-science technologies: – Bacterial preservation in ambient temperatures using novel Gels as carrier material and – Nano-fibers with extremely high surface area to encapsulate biological actives or a chemical moiety for use in catalyst, filter technologies, etc. The first product being a 25ml gel pouch of Organic fertilizer that can fertilize a whole acre of agricultural land. Results in Improved Quantity(~ 20%) and Quality of crop yield concerning chemical fertilization. Allowing a farmer to save input costs, improve his income and soil health and at the same time delivering the quality chemical-free harvest to end consumers.
Fib -Sol aims to carry out research and development to provide biological inputs for the agriculture and health sector. Expert Analysis has been made from areas like nano-biotechnology and computational biology to overcome challenges faced by industries operating in the agriculture, health and environment sector. To Innovate and manufacture new materials and formulations required by the biotechnology sector and provide technical empowerment to students and scholars and make the nation self-sustained in the intellectual segment. At present FIB-SOL is focussing on formulating a fertilizer-carrying membrane (FCM). FCMs are microbial formulations with better stabilizers and carrier material, which is intended for improving the storage, application, efficiency, and logistics of biofertilizers compared to currently available products.
Fib – Sol provides different products such as Gels, Drops and UV mate. Gel-based formulations N-GEL, P-GEL and K-GEL provide bio-available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to plants. These are condensed plant growth-promoting liquid formulations and for an acre as little as 25 ml is sufficient. These products are also compatible with conventional organic inputs and commercial chemical fertilizers for the enhancement of crop yield and soil quality. N-GEL, P-GEL and K-GEL make the crops healthier thereby improving yields (10% increase), and the quality of the yield. Gel-based formulations N-Drops, P-Drops and K-Drops for providing bio-available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to house grassland plants. These are condensed plant growth-promoting liquid formulations. 1 Drop Each pot every 15 days can fulfil all macronutrient requirements of your potted plants. These products are also compatible with conventional organic inputs and commercial chemical fertilizers for the enhancement of crop yield and soil quality. N-Drops, P-Drops and K-Drops make the crops healthier thereby improving yields (10% increase), and the quality of the yield.
Sea6 Energy
Sea6 Energy is a biofuel company that focuses on the “macroalgal” fuel source of seaweed. The company’s main focus is to derive ethanol fuel from seaweed that can replace non-renewable energy sources derived from fossil fuels. The company is founded by Sayash Kumar, Nelson Vadassery, Sowmya Balendiran, Sailaja Nori and Shrikumar Suryanarayan in Chennai in 2010. The company is headquartered in Bangalore, India. On 31 January 2012, Sea6 Energy signed a deal with Danish Biotech company, Novozymes and the goal of the partnership is to facilitate the modification of seaweed carbohydrates into sugars that can be used to produce ethanol. In 2012, Sea6 Energy was given the certificate of “Emerging Company of the Year” by the Government of Karnataka.
Sea6 Energy, the world’s first ocean operating system has a team of specialists from diverse fields like industrial automation, plant pathology, ocean engineering, bioprocess engineering, marine biology, and aerospace engineering, to assemble an entirely new economy based on marine biomass. It formulates technologies to convert biomass into biofuel, plant growth stimulants, plant defence products, animal feed ingredients, and other bio-renewable products to replace chemicals and plastics, effectively creating a bio-refinery out of marine biomass crushing out the entire product leaving nothing to waste.
Traditionally, algal-based biofuels have been derived from macroalgae that grow in freshwater sources. Shrikumar Suryanarayan and the co-founders attempted to research seaweed as a fuel source. To research this, they needed a way to efficiently farm the seaweed, which led to the production of a farming system built from a marine plastics polymer and then they successfully applied for a patent for their aquatic farming structure in 2012.
Sea6 Energy successfully converted red seaweed into ethanol and natural gas in their labs. They believe that seaweed can replace fossil fuels and other types of green fuels in a way that is both sustainable and nice for the environment. The current goal of Sea6 Energy (along with their collaborator, Novozymes) is to discover an enzyme that breaks down red seaweed carbohydrate into monosaccharides more efficiently. These monosaccharides must undergo fermentation to be transformed into ethanol.
Sea6 is an Ocean Operating System that harnesses the power of the oceans sustainably and ethically to create an alternative economy for the world. There are many products that the company which benefits the plants’ animals and even humans which is created from the oceans. To make the world greener each day the company has developed agricultural products from seaweed which are Agrogain, AG Fort, Tarma and Spurt for increasing the health and productivity of plants. For the growth and health of animals, the company has created antibiotics such as Eqqua Royyal and Poultry Feed additive which supplement and benefits the animals. Sea6 Energy has developed an organic and healthy product named Sea Veg Fibre which has nutrition and enhanced texturing properties. With the increasing land and water pollution due to plastics, Sea6 Energy has invented seaweed-based biodegradable polymers such as Biofilms and Bioplastics. Sea6 Energy has conceptualized a unique process that uses hydrothermal liquefaction to reproduce the fossil fuel process in a matter of minutes, generating biocrude produced from sea plants.
String bio private limited
String bio private limited is a biotech company that designs sustainable industrial products security that improves worldwide food security.
It is founded by Ezhil Subbian in 2013 who is also the current CEO of the company. She worked as a scientist and technical lead across multiple companies before starting the startup. Vinod Kumar is the co-founder and Managing Director of the company. The company is headquartered in Banglore, Karnataka, India and has a revenue of $5.4 million. The company utilizes methane as a source of carbon for biodegradable products and it gives out a sustainable protein allowing users to determine with a simple test for high-value industrial chemicals and transportation fuels, allowing companies to help meet the growing global demand for protein and also by being an environmentally friendly company.
The string is among a handful of companies worldwide — and the only Asian company — to successfully stimulate a methane-based significance convoy. Its proprietary outlet (SIMP: String Integrated Methane Platform), leverages advances in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, chemistry, and process engineering to build a circular value chain. String Bio’s work has been comprehended by numerous multinational awards and grants, including the Future Food Asia Award and the EnABLE startup awards in the Industrial Biotechnology sector. The company’s first product to market, String Pro, is a high-quality protein that deals with the thriving worldwide demand for sustainable protein and is a cost-effective protein for the aquaculture market. The string is presently scaling its protein production.
The startup is formulating the biotech to turn methane from waste or natural gas into monomers, which serve as the building blocks of protein for various uses and its first product is an organic protein supplement for fish and its product goes to other companies that make fish feed. The main sources of protein for aquaculture presently are soybean and small fish that are crushed and added to the feed. Sustainability would enter the equation as well. The effects of soybean cultivation on rainforests is well classified and so is the harvesting of marine fish for crushing into fishmeal.
One of the challenges for String Bio is to get methane in a sufficient amount to scale up the project. Biogas is a favourable source as it has environmental benefits in converting waste and greenhouse gas into fish feed but its availability is still too low and fragmented for industrial scale. String Bio is therefore targeting natural gas. It will set up large production units close to gas fields in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and the North-East as well as soon in abroad too. The startup will need a thousand kilo of methane every day to reach commercial viability. The Partnership with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a step in that direction. String Bio has also recently raised an undisclosed amount of funding from several investors including Ankur Capital, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), French investor Seventure Partners, Karnataka’s Information and Biotechnology Venture Fund and Srinivasa Hatcheries.
(Author of the article Khushi Masarani. Khushi is independent writer & blogger in space of Healthcare & life sciences. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author in her private capacity)
