Microbe mission possible: Noah Helman discusses iMicrobes quest to turn waste into wealth on the Grow Everything Podcast
Credit: Grow Everything
What if the same ethanol that fuels your car could also revolutionize the production of sustainable chemicals and materials? That’s exactly the vision driving Industrial Microbes. Noah Helman, a founder and CEO, recently shared the inside story on the Grow Everything podcast.
From his early days in synthetic biology to finalizing a $10 million seed round to scale biomanufacturing, Noah’s journey offers a front-row seat to the changing economics of sustainable production. Below, we highlight key takeaways from the conversation—read on for the insights, then tune into the full episode for the details.
From biofuels to biomaterials: The lessons of SynBio 1.0
Noah’s career started during the first wave of synthetic biology, where companies like LS9, Amyris, and Solazyme aimed to replace petroleum with biofuels. While the vision was bold, the reality was tough: when oil prices dropped, the economic viability of biofuels crumbled. The key lesson? Economics matter just as much as technology.
At Industrial Microbes, this lesson shaped a new approach. Rather than competing to produce fuels, the company focuses on producing higher-value chemicals where bio-based solutions have a cost advantage. That’s where ethanol comes in.
“The cost comes from two main areas: the cost of feedstock and the cost of the purification - getting the product to the right spec. We took that and tried to think about what could we do to address that problem very directly.”
Why ethanol? Rethinking feedstocks for biomanufacturing
Biomanufacturing’s two biggest cost drivers are feedstocks and purification. Industrial Microbes tackled both by choosing ethanol—an abundant, scalable, and low-carbon alternative—as the feedstock, and developing a simple purification strategy. Noah breaks down the many options for sustainable sourcing of ethanol:
Corn ethanol – Readily available today, forming the backbone of U.S. production.
Cellulosic ethanol – Made from agricultural waste, offering a more sustainable path.
Municipal solid waste – Companies like Enerkem convert waste into ethanol, reducing landfill impact.
Industrial off-gas – Conversion of waste gaseous emissions to ethanol has been commercialized by Lanzatech around the world.
CO₂ electro-reduction – Emerging tech that turns carbon emissions into ethanol, offering the potential for a circular economy.
By leveraging these sources, Industrial Microbes ensures supply chain resilience while driving down costs—critical factors in scaling bio-based chemicals.
“The U.S. has a strategic advantage in ethanol production at a low cost, with an abundant feedstock and existing infrastructure. That really positions us and the U.S. economy to insulate ourselves better from supply shocks.”
Breaking the biomanufacturing bottleneck
Industrial Microbes recently announced $10 million in funding to accelerate commercialization. But as Noah explains, scaling up isn’t just about funding—it’s about solving a chicken-and-egg problem:
Investors want to see customers before backing large-scale production.
Customers want large-scale samples before committing to purchases.
Producing those samples requires significant upfront investment.
To break this cycle, Industrial Microbes is leveraging strategic partnerships with investors, government agencies, manufacturing institutes like BioMADE, and manufacturing initiatives like BioWell, a shared infrastructure model backed by First Bight Ventures.
What’s being made? Acrylic acid and carbon fiber
Industrial Microbes’ first set of products will be made using a single bioprocess that converts ethanol into poly(3HP), a polymer that accumulates inside engineered E. coli. This streamlined approach simplifies purification and reduces costs, making biomanufacturing more efficient.
Their first product, acrylic acid, is a key ingredient in paints, coatings, and adhesives. Traditionally derived from fossil fuels, Industrial Microbes bio-based process offers a lower-cost, lower-carbon alternative by using microbes to produce it. The conversion is simple—heat the polymer and separate vapors through distillation, significantly reducing purification costs.
A second project is leveraging the same bioprocess to create acrylonitrile, the main precursor for carbon fiber, which is used in aerospace, automotive, and high-performance materials. By modifying the downstream conversion, Industrial Microbes can produce both acrylic acid and acrylonitrile from the same biomanufacturing platform, ensuring flexibility and scalability in sustainable chemical production.
The future of synthetic biology: AI & big data
Noah is particularly excited about two trends transforming biomanufacturing:
Designing enzymes with new chemistries: Machine learning is accelerating de novo enzyme design, opening up the possibility of computationally creating novel catalytic steps.
Big data in biology: With massive sequencing datasets and high-throughput functional measurements, companies can now train models to refine prediction models. The biggest advances will be found in native-bio platforms that can generate and parse through millions of data points.
What’s next?
By the end of 2025, Industrial Microbes aims to:
Prove their techno-economic models in the lab and at scale.
Partner with major chemical producers for large-scale production.
Expand biomanufacturing infrastructure through government and private collaborations.
“The transition away from petrochemicals isn’t a question of if, but when,” Noah explains. “By changing the feedstock, we change the entire system—bringing sustainability and resilience into materials that touch every part of daily life.”
Want to hear the full story? Listen to the full episode of Grow Everything to dive deeper into Noah’s vision for the future of biomanufacturing: Apple, Spotify,YouTube.