Rubi Laboratories and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are entering the next phase of scaling symbiotic manufacturing.
The San Francisco startup turning carbon emissions into enzyme-powered, biochemical-based textiles was granted nearly $1 million by the NSF—an award given to less than 5 percent of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applicants over the past decade.
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In recognition of Rubi’s advancements in CO2-to-materials technology, the $969,961 will support the Global Change Award winner’s journey to commercialization as it develops and grows its carbon-to-cellulose platform.
The NSF Phase II award builds on the previous successful NSF Phase I grant completion in 2023, which saw Rubi advance “multi-enzyme cascade design and enzyme stabilization” for carbon-to-cellulose production. Since then, Time’s Top Greentech Company raised $8.7 million in a seed funding round co-led by Patagonia’s venture capital arm, Tin Shed Ventures, and the H&M Group. Strategic pilot partnerships with the likes of Ganni and Reformation, as well as a series of pilot projects in collaboration with Walmart, followed suit.
“This award is a testament to Rubi’s vision for a symbiotic manufacturing future and our ambition to lead the next era of sustainable industry,” said Neeka Mashouf, Rubi’s co-founder and CEO. “As we move into 2025, this grant will accelerate our efforts to scale CO2-derived, low-carbon cellulose for the textile industry, ultimately allowing us to transform environmental challenges into opportunities, bridge our proven science with existing supply chains, and set a new standard for decoupling industrial growth from environmental degradation.”
Here’s how it works: Rubi’s proprietary technology functions like an enzymatic conveyor belt. That assembly line turns simple 1-carbon molecules (like carbon dioxide or methane) into more complex carbohydrate polymers (like cellulose). These 1-carbon molecules are likely being used as raw materials for their enzyme process to build more complex substances.
Traditional methods like fermentation and chemical catalysis are typically expensive, time-consuming and resource-intensive. What makes Rubi’s proprietary process noteworthy is its cell-free enzymatic platform. By using enzymes directly—no need for living cells like bacteria, algae or yeast—Rubi dodges a handful of the inefficiencies and limitations encountered when using the incumbent techniques. This allows for faster, cheaper, and cleaner production of cellulose and other polymers from simple 1-carbon inputs. Furthermore, this method yields three times more product than fermentation and uses fewer resources than chemical catalysis. Plus, it’s 10 times cheaper to set up.