FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | November 11, 2019

Chemical & Engineering News announces its list of 10 chemistry start-ups to watch

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2019 — Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), today unveiled its annual list of 10 chemistry start-ups to watch. Chosen by C&EN writers and editors, who have scoured the start-up landscape for standouts and reviewed reader nominations, these fledgling firms are being recognized for their world-changing chemistry innovations and efforts to bring them to market. This week’s C&EN cover story profiles these companies on the rise.

Scientists at these start-ups are applying their expertise to a broad range of global issues. This year’s class includes firms developing pharmaceuticals, green chemistry processes, agricultural technologies and automation tools. The entrepreneurship and diversity of the firms and their founders reflect the best of the chemical enterprise.

Below is the full “Start-ups to Watch” list for 2019:

Cyclopure
Using linked cyclodextrins to remove PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and other micropollutants from drinking water

Kebotix
Designing a self-driving materials discovery lab powered by automation and robots

Frontier Medicines
Chemoproteomics for drugging difficult-to-drug disease proteins and for targeted protein degradation

Ligandal
Delivering gene-editing therapies using peptide nanoparticles

Mosaic Materials
Capturing CO2 from air using low-cost metal organic frameworks (MOFs)

Polystyvert
Recycling polystyrene for re-use by breaking it down with the help of a natural solvent

Skyhawk Therapeutics
Developing small molecules for RNA splicing

Sustainable Bioproducts
Producing sustainable meat replacement proteins from an extremophile organism found in volcanic hot springs

Syzygy Plasmonics
Developing photocatalysts for efficiently separating gases, such as hydrogen, from methane

Via Separations
Creating new materials for chemical separation membranes

C&EN’s “Start-ups to Watch” list has already helped 40 organizations achieve higher visibility and financial success. Pedro Coelho, Ph.D., who cofounded Provivi with 2018 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Frances Arnold, Ph.D., says being named to the inaugural list in 2015 “provided Provivi an early platform to share our vision of safer and more sustainable crop protection with the world. This recognition resonated with investors and top talent alike.”

“This year’s start-ups represent the breadth of the global chemical enterprise,” says Bibiana Campos Seijo, Ph.D., editor-in-chief and vice president of C&EN Media Group. “They are already hard at work boosting the world’s supply of sustainable protein, finding hidden drug targets for future cancer drugs, designing new sustainable materials, removing microcontaminants like PFAS from drinking water, capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, and reducing the energy required for catalysts and chemical separations.”

The full article, “C&EN's 2019 10 Start-Ups to Watch,” was published Nov. 11, 2019, and is freely available here.

C&EN is the world's most comprehensive and authoritative news source about chemistry and related fields. Our journalists are based in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, and chemists recognize us for our breaking-news coverage and award-winning features. C&EN has been published by the American Chemical Society since 1923.

The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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