草莓污视频导航

草莓污视频导航 researchers work on a revolutionary new process to extract phycocyanin.
草莓污视频导航 researchers work on a revolutionary new process to extract phycocyanin. Adrian Shellard

May 18, 2021

Synergia Biotech鈥檚 entrepreneurial journey

How a team of 草莓污视频导航 scientists took risks, shifted paradigms, embraced business models, and wound up on a promising new path

Set out on one journey and end up somewhere else. The story behind the birth of startup , a new clean-technology company with deep roots in is a ringing example of dogged persistence, frequent pivots, the thrill of discovery, and the urgency of delivering blue food dye to a marketplace hungry for naturally sourced, sustainable ingredients.

Starting point

The researchers鈥 original mission, one of the project areas within the Energy Bioengineering and Geomicrobiology Group in the was to find ways to produce carbon-neutral natural gas from algal biomass, a form of organic matter that stores chemical energy from the sun. Their focus was the cyanobacteria growing in alkaline conditions such as those in British Columbia鈥檚 Soda Lakes high on the Cariboo Plateau. 鈥淲e replicated the chemistry from these particular lakes, which happen to be amongst the most biologically productive areas in the world,鈥 recalls Dr. Christine Sharp, PhD鈥13, an environmental microbiologist who had been studying Soda Lakes as far back as 2013.

Phycocyanin, produced at commercial scale, will help meet global demand for climate-friendly alternatives to chemical colour additives.

Phycocyanin, produced at commercial scale, will help meet global demand for climate-friendly alternatives to chemical colour additives.

Adrian Shellard

Pivot toward commercial potential

Bioengineer Agasteswar Vadlamani, PhD, and biologist Angela Kouris, PhD, joined the research group around 2018. In the early fall of that year, the team discovered their process to extract phycocyanin 鈥 a naturally occurring pigment used as a blue colouring agent in the food and beverage industry 鈥 from the cyanobacteria (colloquially named algae).听 Dr. Vadlamani and the rest of the team grew convinced of the commercial potential of this value-added product. Dr. Kouris, now CEO of Synergia, remembers coming to a point where she 鈥渞emoved myself from the fundamental research that's ongoing and recognized that this is a valuable product, we can do something with this.鈥 They incorporated the company in the fall of 2019.

Off to the races

They applied and were accepted into the Prime stream of the (CDL-Rockies), an objective-setting, mentorship program within the Haskayne School of Business that focuses on massively scalable, early stage science- and technology-based companies. By October 2019, 鈥渨e were getting positively hammered with questions about what our business model was and what our revenue streams and potential markets were,鈥 Kouris says. 鈥淣one of us had even looked at a market report at that point. It was very exciting, let鈥檚 put it that way.鈥

Clarifying the focus

By the time the foursome graduated from the demanding CDL program, they had made two paradigm shifts. First, they sharpened their focus from two production streams, natural gas and phycocyanin, into one. 鈥淲e realized that the actual financial gain for the business side did not lie in the natural gas, but it had everything to do with the actual value-added blue,鈥 Kouris says. Second, the new venture set its sights on the food and beverage industry, the market of greatest demand for phycocyanin, according to their business research.听

鈥淎 big goal was to identify some of the biggest players in the world in the natural food colour space, which we did,鈥 Kouris recounts. 鈥淲e reached out to them and we found it was relatively easy to get their interest, which validated our market assumptions about the need for our product.鈥 At the behest of the CDL mentors, the team also grew to five, adding and his vast experience and success in early-stage company commercialization in the ingredient and clean-tech space.

What didn鈥檛 change was the founders鈥 unwavering commitment to their technology鈥檚 environmentally friendly side-effect 鈥 its ability to mitigate carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a natural part of their process. Synergia plans to begin construction of a manufacturing facility about one year from now on Vancouver Island.

At a pilot-scale pond built on the 草莓污视频导航 campus in 2020, the team replicated the biological processes at the heart of their venture.

At a pilot-scale pond built on the 草莓污视频导航 campus in 2020, the team replicated the biological processes at the heart of their venture.

Katy Whitt Photography

Support for commercialization

Kouris says the support from the university鈥檚 was essential to getting the project off the ground. 鈥淔rom my perspective, the (GRI) in Sustainable Low-Carbon Unconventional Resources, the big Canada research grant that was essentially enabled all of the funding for the commercialization,鈥 she says. The federal funding to 草莓污视频导航, under the , supports Canada鈥檚 transition to a safer, cleaner, more secure energy future. Alberta Innovates and Western Economic Diversification funded part of the research.听 Also key was having staff who work to support commercialization, adds Christine Sharp. 鈥淲ithout having a research group that's actually supportive of commercializing the technology, and then the resources there from the GRI to kind of push this all forward, it wouldn鈥檛 have gone anywhere.鈥

Looking back

Part of the team鈥檚 success has been a willingness to work closely together, take risks, and try something new, no matter where it might lead. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty unique that all of us were willing to just step out of our comfort zones and try something incredible in this process,鈥 says Sharp. 鈥淎nd we wouldn鈥檛 have made it through CDL and the last two years of actually having a business, if we weren鈥檛 willing to pivot and be open-minded and take criticism and feedback and sculpt it into what it is right now.鈥

Researchers as inventors and innovators

The university enables researchers to think outside of the lab, with supported pathways to innovation and real-world impact. 鈥淕reat researchers are often great innovators and we have built a robust with key elements such as the Hunter Hub, and CDL to provide our researchers the tools and advice they need to help make the leap from discovery to inventions and then to commercial outcomes,鈥 says Dr. Stephen Larter, associate vice-president (innovation). 鈥湶葺凼悠档己-led innovations are helping solve global challenges, creating jobs, and boosting the economy. We are mobilizing our deep knowledge base and translating our expertise into ventures that will make a difference.鈥

Phycocyanin has emerged as the most viable natural source to replace chemical and synthetic versions in industry.

Phycocyanin has emerged as the most viable natural source to replace chemical and synthetic versions in industry.

Katy Whitt Photography

Entrepreneurial journey

Across the arc of the project, the principal investigator was Dr. Marc Strous, PhD, Campus Alberta Innovation Program Chair听in Energy Bioengineering. Reflecting on the 鈥渆ntrepreneurial-ness鈥 of the project鈥檚 history, Strous says, 鈥淚 think what we鈥檝e done countless times is said, 鈥極kay, we were wrong. This idea doesn鈥檛 work.鈥 And we鈥檝e pivoted countless times. During those seven years, I think the essential thing was that we always did that, falsified our own ideas, moved on to something that did work and did not get stuck circling a hypothesis endlessly, maybe for years and years and years without actually addressing it full on.鈥

  • Interested in Synergia Biotech, their all-natural blue pigment, and investment opportunities? Learn more
  • As part of听草莓污视频导航鈥檚听partnership with the Rideau Hall Foundation, we celebrate Canadian Innovation Week. Join听草莓污视频导航听experts and researchers May 17-21, for a week of conversation, inspiration and ideas.听

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