START

The US produces enough biogas to make over $20 billion worth of chemicals a year

60% of it is wasted or flared in low-margin applications

It comes off wastewater plants, farms and landfills
Gas a large-scale chemical plant can't capture

So Rise Reforming goes to the gas
Its modular technology fits inside a shipping container and runs on-site

The result is the cheapest feedstock and no fossil fuels as raw material

Out come chemicals like dimethyl ether, methanol and dimethyl carbonate
That last one has no domestic manufacturer in the US

The three founders met studying molecular engineering at UChicago
They got close over late-night problem sets
Environmentalists turned engineers, drawn in by the chemical industry's 5% share of global emissions
Then Y Combinator, to learn how to sell chemicals

1,800+ hours of stable syngas production
First in the Americas to produce syngas from wastewater biogas
A binding biogas supply agreement and a conditional DME offtake for its first commercial unit

DME is first, targeting aerosol and propane starting in 2027

Rise Reforming sums it up in six words:
"Unlocking resilience for the chemical industry"
‍
🎙️ George Rose, Founder & CEO, Rise Reforming on Fondo START  
‍
00:45 Supply-secure chemicals from waste gases
01:45 Why centralized plants are exposed to conflicts and natural disasters
02:00 Making the chemicals where the waste is actually generated
02:32 Dimethyl carbonate and the lack of a single domestic manufacturer
03:04 DME, methanol, and the markets Rise Reforming is targeting
04:48 Environmentalists turned engineers
05:32 Green premium?
05:57 Price parity with the natural gas alternative
06:27 A new methanol process and the cheapest feedstock
07:05 Meeting cofounder at UChicago over late-night problem sets
08:25 Doing YC to learn how to sell chemicals

Check out www.rise-reforming.com

What is START?

Fondo is an all-in-one accounting platform for startups. Get your books closed, taxes filed, and cash back from the IRS.