PCI Magazine · Oct 2025
External coverage of iMicrobes’ scale-up to 100% bio-based, high-purity acrylic acid, highlighting the move from gram-scale to 20-kilogram batches and 2-liter to 1,500-liter reactors.
We design and build microbes to make chemicals greener at lower cost.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Aug 16, 2026
Overview
Industrial Microbes (iMicrobes) is an industrial biotechnology company developing cost-competitive, sustainable materials via synthetic biology and precision fermentation. Its core focus appears to be bio-based industrial chemicals, especially acrylic acid and related drop-in chemicals made from renewable feedstocks such as ethanol and methane.
Primary product
Bio-based industrial chemicals platform, with a major emphasis on 100% bio-based acrylic acid and precursor bioprocesses
Founded
2014
Headquarters
Alameda, California, United States
Team size
11-50 employees
Industry
Biotechnology
Sub-industry
Industrial biotechnology / synthetic biology / precision fermentation
Offices
Alameda, California, United States
Emeryville, California, United States
Business model
B2B product development
B2B licensing
commercial partnerships
government / non-dilutive grant-funded R&D
Funding
People & investors
Leadership
Noah Helman
Founder and CEO
Elizabeth Clarke
Founder and CTO
Stephen Powaga
Co-Founder and Advisor
Amanda Beverly
Senior Director of Fermentation
Matt Engler
Vice President of Business Development
Derek Greenfield
President
Work & culture
Public sources portray a science- and scale-up-focused culture centered on sustainable biomanufacturing, commercialization, and industrial collaboration. Hiring and team announcements suggest an active lab/manufacturing environment, but I did not find enough primary-source evidence to characterize formal culture programs.
Compensation
No public compensation ranges or benefits page located in the reviewed primary sources.
Product & market
Pricing
Not publicly disclosed; likely B2B partnerships, licensing, and project-based commercialization.
Differentiators
- —Focus on renewable feedstocks such as ethanol and methane
- —Targeting drop-in industrial chemicals rather than consumer foods
- —Patented microbial strain engineering and precision fermentation
- —Evidence of pilot-scale and 1,500-liter scale-up work
- —Government-backed validation and non-dilutive funding support
Technology
precision fermentation
synthetic biology
microbial strain engineering
machine learning for scale-up
Greenhouse/Lever/Signal/Sage/Well (company tech stack signals from LinkedIn data)
patent portfolio
Customers
Commercial chemical and materials companies
Industrial partners
Government and consortium programs (e.g., BioMADE, DOE-related collaborators)
Competitors
LanzaTech
Ginkgo Bioworks
Calysta
Opus 12
other industrial biotech / precision fermentation companies
Scale & contact
Estimated monthly visits
2.6K
Traffic estimate as of Jun 2026
Latest news
Industrial Microbes · Sep 2025
Press item reinforcing the acrylic acid scale-up milestone.
Industrial Microbes · Sep 2025
Company announcement describing scale-up from gram-scale to 20 kg batches and fermenter volume growth from 2 L to 1,500 L reactors.
Industrial Microbes · Nov 2024
Company press release announcing the first close of a seed round led by First Bight Ventures with participation from UMI, bringing total investment to over $10M.
Industrial Microbes · Nov 2024
Primary source for the company’s seed financing; states the round was led by First Bight Ventures with participation from UMI.
Jobs and careers at Industrial Microbes
1 job at Industrial Microbes
IDC Automatic Door Technician
On-site
Partner Company
Sacramento, CA; Industrial Door Company
1mo ago
On-site
Full-time