CarbonBridge was founded in 2021 by Manu Pillai and Sophia Xu. Based in New York, the team uses their highly efficient, direct-gas bioreactor to convert waste gases to energy with microbes. Ocean Exchange awarded them the $100,000 Orcelle award in 2024.
They use their microbe technology to convert Methane gas to Methanol for fuel or oils to glycolipids for cosmetics, or oils to biosurfactants for detergents. It is both an efficient and cost-effective method of converting gases into valuable bio-industrial chemicals. The Methanol produced serves as a cleaner alternative for the maritime industry, facilitating a gradual transition to net-zero emissions without the need for extensive infrastructure changes.
In addition to Ocean Exchange funding in 2024, they were awarded $719,881 from ARPA-E under the GREENWELLS program. These make their total raise over $2.6 million.
For 2026, Co-Founder Sophia Xu was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Energy and Green Tech. CarbonBridge’s direct-gas reactors have been picked by Berkeley Lab in California for biosurfactant research and A*Star in Singapore for CO2 to value, demonstrating the cutting-edge platform value that has been created.
Winning Formula: Working from first principles enables us to ask why, and why not, opening up opportunities for innovation across biology, hardware, software, and business.
Discover more about their mission and technology: https://www.carbonbridge.io/
