Pitch: a startup developing a platform to produce fermentation-grade sugars from CO₂ and hydrogen as an alternative to crop-derived feedstocks for biomanufacturing.

Source: solarferm

ID card

• HQ: New Zealand
• Founded: 2023
• Funding: NZ$25K
• Last Funding: Undisclosed amount (06/2026)
• Partnerships: Ø
• Innovations: Platform converting CO₂ and hydrogen into fermentation-grade glucose and other sugars
• Competitors: Ø
• Regulation: Ø (nothing disclosed)

More insights

• Solarferm is developing a continuous platform to produce fermentation-grade sugars from CO₂ and H₂, combining two conversion stages:
  • Thermochemical step: methane/natural gas is converted using heat and a catalyst into a chemical intermediate.
  • Biological step: engineered bacteria convert the intermediate into glucose. Its first-generation system uses photosynthetic bacteria and internal lighting, which Solarferm aims to reduce or ultimately eliminate.
• It initially focuses on glucose as a scalable and secure alternative to crop-derived sugars.
  • It claims 50× faster production than growing crops, 20% lower costs than conventional feedstocks and 50% lower carbon emissions than conventional sugar.
• Its techno-economic modelling suggests price parity or better with fermentation-grade dextrose (~$550/tonne) at industrial scale, although this remains a projection.
• The platform can also produce rare sugars, including allulose and tagatose, but glucose is the biochemical starting point for these more complex sugars.
• The startup is considering several business models:
  • Licensing its strains and bioreactor technology to energy companies seeking new product streams.
  • Co-locating its technology with fermentation facilities to supply sugars directly to biomanufacturers, with up to 50% of the CO₂ released during customers’ fermentation potentially recycled into Solarferm’s process.
  • Producing and selling sugars itself.

For Symrise

Why did we select the startup?

Solarferm addresses an upstream bottleneck in fermentation by developing a potentially lower-cost alternative to crop-derived glucose that can be used in existing biomanufacturing processes, without requiring a shift to gas fermentation or alternative feedstocks.

Its ability to produce other sugars such as allulose and tagatose also makes it relevant to Symrise beyond fermentation, particularly for sugar reduction and functional ingredient applications.

Source: solarferm

Why now?

The startup remains early-stage and is preparing a seed round, while already reporting industry interest, including from a multinational dairy company seeking long-term feedstock security as it scales ingredient production.

It represents an early technology scouting opportunity for Symrise as feedstock economics and availability become increasingly important for scaling biomanufacturing.