Vancouver, British Columbia – November 15, 2023, Anodyne has received an award for its pioneering work in the field of biomimicry by the Biomimicry Institute.
This year’s runners-up recognition for the 2023 Ray of Hope Prize® went to Anodyne Chemistries, which uses nature’s catalysts, enzymes, to solve the chemical industry’s reliance on fossil fuels, was awarded runners up recognition for the 2023 Ray of Hope Prize®, with UK-based Sparxell winning the top prize. Anodyne Chemistries has developed a method of bioelectrical manufacturing that can compete against petrochemical economics, overcome the limitations of biological fermentation, and outperform electrochemistry, which are the main industrial processes and emergent technologies for chemical production, respectively. This technology could decarbonize the chemical industry while applying principles of Green Chemistry to create a new generation of climate positive chemicals.
“I’m thrilled by the quality of all of the finalists in the Ray of Hope Prize this year, in particular Sparxell and Anodyne Chemistries,” said John Lanier, Executive Director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and selection committee member. “These businesses are in completely different sectors, but each has a solid business plan, a compelling biomimicry story, and most importantly, an authentic social and environmental ethos. Anodyne’s enzymes offer an exciting pathway to low carbon chemicals, while Sparxell has unlocked cellulose as a source for pigments of nearly any color. With nature as their teachers, they are primed to positively disrupt their industries.”
The Ray of Hope Prize, created in honor of the late sustainable business pioneer Ray C. Anderson, is awarded each year to the world’s top nature-inspired startup after 10 finalist teams conclude a 10-week accelerator program. This year, Sparxell, Anodyne Chemistries, and the eight other participating companies were selected from a pool of 215 applications from 54 different countries. The finalists and recipients were chosen through a series of expert judging panels, which included investors and trusted experts in the field of biomimicry, industry, and entrepreneurship, including representatives from NASA, Overview Earth, and L’Oréal. All participants in the program learned about sustainable business practices, met with industry and startup mentors, refined their scientific communication skills, and were invited to an immersive retreat in the Yosemite National Park to reconnect with the natural world and form bonds with their fellow bio-inspired innovators.
The 2023 Ray of Hope Prize was made possible by The Biomimicry Institute’s generous partners, the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, with support from the Bentley Environmental Foundation, and L’Oréal.
About the Biomimicry Institute
The Biomimicry Institute is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 that empowers people to seek nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. To advance the solution process, the Institute offers AskNature.org, a free online tool that contains strategies found in nature and examples of ways they are used in design. It also offers biomimicry curriculum, hosts a Youth Design Challenge to support project-based education; a Biomimicry Launchpad to help scientists, inventors, and innovators bring their nature-inspired ideas into reality; and the Ray of Hope Prize® which identifies the top nature-inspired startups in the world and fosters their growth by providing a 10-week program focused on sustainable business training, communications support, and opportunities for non-dilutive funding. The Institute’s collaborative initiative, Design for Transformation, pilots technologies that convert discarded clothes and textiles into biocompatible raw materials. For more information, visit biomimicry.org.
About Anodyne Chemistries
Anodyne is an industrial biotechnology and renewable chemicals company developing a new generation of sustainable chemicals and low-carbon fuels using synthetic biology and electrochemistry. For more details, visit: https://anodynechemistries.com/