Neela Biotech raises $2.8 million pre-seed funding
In the UK, UK Tech Investment News reported that Neela Biotech, the Cambridge-based biotech start-up turning waste into sustainable aviation fuel, announced it has raised $2.8 million in pre-seed funding to take its technology from the lab to a pilot-scale trial at a biogas plant over the next two years.
Neela Biotech transforms diverse waste streams from food, agriculture and forest residue, into sustainable aviation fuel through an AI-guided, controlled microbial process. The process converts these waste streams into fatty acids, a critical precursor for HEFA-based SAF production, unlocking an abundant new feedstock in place of scarce waste cooking oils, according to the report.
Deepanshu Singh, CEO of Neela Biotech, said: “Most SAF today is made from waste oils and fats through HEFA. But the world burns 300 million tons of jet fuel every year, and there is simply nowhere near enough waste oil and fat to meet this demand. Our Controlled Microbial Upcycling process leverages recent advances in AI-driven synthetic biology to convert diverse waste streams like food and agriculture waste into HEFA-compatible feedstocks.”
Category: SAF
