Guru sat down with Adi Goldman, CEO & Co-Founder at Biotic, to talk about Biotic's mission of providing the world with environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil-based plastics, consumer obsession with using plastic, and much more.
Biotic envisions a world where plastic pollution is no longer a problem
Biotic's goal is to replace fossil-based plastics with more environmentally friendly alternatives. They have created a bio-based polymer commodity as an alternative to plastic using microalgae that can be used for a variety of applications.
A problematic penchant for plastic
Today, plastics are used in every industry imaginable, and consumers can’t get enough of it. Plastics weigh little, are easy to produce, and are very versatile. These qualities create problems for plastic alternatives as consumers don't want to make the change. Making alternatives is 3-5 times the cost of manufacturing plastic and is challenging to sustain and implement in the industry. Lastly, the plastic alternatives need to be the exact size of the plastic parts they are replacing in industrial machines. These machines cost a fortune and pose another challenge to why it is difficult to wean ourselves off of plastic.
A closer look into Biotic's manufacturing process
"We are using Marine biomass as feedstock for our precise fermentation process." - Adi Goldman, CEO & Co-Founder at Biotic.
Adi tells us that by using marine biomass they are not competing for arable land, which we know is shrinking. Marine biomass is widely available, fast to grow, and can be harvested quickly. This makes it easy to ship and transport which in turn makes managing the supply chain much easier.
Startups are not about creating something from scratch
"You don't need to invent the wheel every time you do something new." - Adi Goldman, CEO & Co-Founder at Biotic
Adi tells us that a startup is not about creating something from scratch all over again. You can take things that already exist and mold them together to create something novel, appealing, and innovative.
Vision for the future - creating biorefineries from abandoned oil rigs
Oil rigs are extremely damaging to the environment. Adi tells us that we have the potential to change this by repurposing abandoned oil rigs to create biorefineries. You can use these biorefineries to generate alternative food and energy and help preserve the environment. So once what was destroying the environment is now saving it.
Advice to bioentreprenuers
Adi advises future bioentrepreneurs to be prepared, confident, and know the industry well.
"It is not enough to have an amazing idea, you must also be able to deliver it and be humble about it," says Adi.
