Food, agriculture, chemicals, materials, and the bio-based supply chains behind them. Join us for three days of partnering in San Jose.
Food, agriculture, chemicals, materials, and the bio-based supply chains behind them. Join us for three days of partnering in San Jose.
SynBioBeta 2026. May 4-7, San Jose, California
Sweet proteins that replace sugar. Cultured fats that make plant-based meat taste real. Microbes that extract rare earth metals from mine waste. Bio-based materials grown from agricultural byproducts. These aren't research abstracts. These are companies with products, customers, and scale-up timelines. Their founders are at SynBioBeta this May alongside the corporate buyers already integrating bio-based ingredients into their supply chains.
Planetary Health and Sustainability
What's actually scaling in cultured meat and precision fermentation, from Hoxton Farms, Oobli, and Impossible Foods
How P&G and Mars evaluate bio-based innovations and where they see unmet needs
The investment thesis for alternative proteins and where the capital is going, from Bruce Friedrich
The economics of scaling bio-based production, with 21st.Bio, ADM, and Hawkwood Bio
The investors funding food tech, bio-based materials, and sustainable chemistry are also here. Genoa, Boom Capital, Obvious Ventures, SOSV, and ID Capital are all confirmed.
The Startups Founders to Meet, Fund and Partner with.
Corporations looking to partner with you
Who’s Coming to SynBioBeta?
“SynBioBeta is a who’s who of AI and biology.
This is where the future is being built, so don't miss it”
“SynBioBeta is a who’s who of AI and biology.
This is where the future is being built, so don't miss it”
Eric Schmidt
Former CEO
At SynBioBeta I met the team at Biomatter, an AI-driven enzyme design company. The environment made it easy to start a real conversation. That conversation turned into a collaboration to improve one of our enzymes. We're now exploring entirely new performance possibilities together.
At SynBioBeta I met the team at Biomatter, an AI-driven enzyme design company. The environment made it easy to start a real conversation. That conversation turned into a collaboration to improve one of our enzymes. We're now exploring entirely new performance possibilities together.
Luis Cascao-Pereira
Head of Digital Biology
SynBioBeta creates the kind of environment where real collaborations start. That's where I met the team at IFF, and the conversation quickly turned into a project to improve one of their enzymes.
SynBioBeta creates the kind of environment where real collaborations start. That's where I met the team at IFF, and the conversation quickly turned into a project to improve one of their enzymes.
Matthew Thompson
VP Industrial Biotech
"I met Algen at SynBioBeta and later invested in the company. It’s exactly the kind of connection that makes the community so valuable."
"I met Algen at SynBioBeta and later invested in the company. It’s exactly the kind of connection that makes the community so valuable."
Bill Tai
Co-founder
SynBioBeta is an incredible meeting place. I met BitBiome there, and we ended up using their amazing technology to find enzymes that we're now engineering into new strains for new products. I wouldn't have made this connection and collaboration without attending SynBioBeta.
SynBioBeta is an incredible meeting place. I met BitBiome there, and we ended up using their amazing technology to find enzymes that we're now engineering into new strains for new products. I wouldn't have made this connection and collaboration without attending SynBioBeta.
Zack Abbott
Founder & CEO
The 1:1 Partnering App lets you see who's attending and set up meetings before you arrive.
Whether you're building a bio-based product, sourcing one, or tracking how fast these alternatives are reaching commercial scale, this is a concentrated few days of partnering.
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Planetary Health
The New Main Course: Cultured Meat + Precision Fermentation
Plant-based food sales may be slowing, but that doesn’t mean innovation on the plate is stalling. Instead, momentum is shifting toward breakthrough technologies and smarter ingredient combinations. Cultured meat and precision fermentation are driving the next wave of sustainable ingredients, from proteins to cultured fats that bring authentic flavor and texture. This session highlights advances in cell culture, fermentation platforms, and scale-up strategies, along with the partnerships moving products from R&D to dining tables. Hear how food innovators are combining biology and culinary creativity to build a resilient, delicious, and sustainable future for global diets.
Featuring
Max Jamilly
Hoxton Farms
CEO & Co-founder
Cultivated-fat pioneer making alt-meat taste real.
Laura Kliman
Impossible Foods
Senior R&D Director
Making plant-based meat possible
Isabelle Decitre
ID Capital
Founder
Future Food Asia founder. Synbio food-systems investor.
Jason Ryder
Oobli
Founder & CTO
Turns exotic sweet proteins into craveable sweetness without sugar.
Megan Thomas
Ladder 17
Founder & CEO
Launched the first CRISPR food in the US, award-winning storytelling podcast host.
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Planetary Health
The New Main Course: Cultured Meat + Precision Fermentation
Plant-based food sales may be slowing, but that doesn’t mean innovation on the plate is stalling. Instead, momentum is shifting toward breakthrough technologies and smarter ingredient combinations. Cultured meat and precision fermentation are driving the next wave of sustainable ingredients, from proteins to cultured fats that bring authentic flavor and texture. This session highlights advances in cell culture, fermentation platforms, and scale-up strategies, along with the partnerships moving products from R&D to dining tables. Hear how food innovators are combining biology and culinary creativity to build a resilient, delicious, and sustainable future for global diets.
Featuring
Max Jamilly
Hoxton Farms
CEO & Co-founder
Cultivated-fat pioneer making alt-meat taste real.
Laura Kliman
Impossible Foods
Senior R&D Director
Making plant-based meat possible
Isabelle Decitre
ID Capital
Founder
Future Food Asia founder. Synbio food-systems investor.
Jason Ryder
Oobli
Founder & CTO
Turns exotic sweet proteins into craveable sweetness without sugar.
Megan Thomas
Ladder 17
Founder & CEO
Launched the first CRISPR food in the US, award-winning storytelling podcast host.
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Planetary Health
Everyday Bio: Understand the Bio-Products Consumers Love—and Why
Biotech is no longer behind the scenes—it’s on our shelves, in our homes, and part of our daily routines. From sustainable haircare to household cleaning, and high-performance materials, bio-based innovations are redefining everyday consumer experiences. This session explores what drives adoption, how brands communicate the value of biology, and why trust, transparency, and performance are key to building loyalty. Join us to hear from the companies making biology irresistible, accessible, and seamlessly integrated into daily life—and learn what it takes to create bio-products consumers truly love.
Featuring
Mikah Coffindaffer
Procter & Gamble
R&D Director
Arthur Gardner Smith
[Re]formation Hair
Founder & CEO
Biotech founder remaking hair straightening without harsh chemicals.
Jake Miller
Marvel Labs
Co-founder & CEO
From waste to world-worthy materials
Zack Abbott
ZBiotics
CEO
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Planetary Health
Everyday Bio: Understand the Bio-Products Consumers Love—and Why
Biotech is no longer behind the scenes—it’s on our shelves, in our homes, and part of our daily routines. From sustainable haircare to household cleaning, and high-performance materials, bio-based innovations are redefining everyday consumer experiences. This session explores what drives adoption, how brands communicate the value of biology, and why trust, transparency, and performance are key to building loyalty. Join us to hear from the companies making biology irresistible, accessible, and seamlessly integrated into daily life—and learn what it takes to create bio-products consumers truly love.
Featuring
Mikah Coffindaffer
Procter & Gamble
R&D Director
Arthur Gardner Smith
[Re]formation Hair
Founder & CEO
Biotech founder remaking hair straightening without harsh chemicals.
Jake Miller
Marvel Labs
Co-founder & CEO
From waste to world-worthy materials
Zack Abbott
ZBiotics
CEO
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Planetary Health
DNA Over Dynamite: How Biomining is Transforming Resource Recovery
Mining has long relied on brute force and chemistry, but biology is opening a new frontier. Biomining uses engineered microbes to extract metals and minerals with precision, efficiency, and far less environmental impact than traditional methods. From rare earth elements essential to clean energy to critical metals powering electronics, synthetic biology is reshaping how we source the building blocks of modern life. This session spotlights innovators designing bio-based recovery systems, scaling sustainable solutions, and reimagining resource extraction.
Featuring
Nicole Richards
Allonnia
CEO
Transformational biological solutions proving waste is the new gold.
Samuel Jayakanthan
Vandstrom
Research Director
Protein nanochannel engineer chasing cheaper desalination at scale.
Luis Valencia
AlkaLi Labs
Co-Founder & CEO
Collaborating with microbes to recycle waste
Jayme Feyhl-Buska
Homeworld Collective
Critical Minerals Lead
Geomicrobiology builder turning microbes into cleaner mining tech
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Planetary Health
DNA Over Dynamite: How Biomining is Transforming Resource Recovery
Mining has long relied on brute force and chemistry, but biology is opening a new frontier. Biomining uses engineered microbes to extract metals and minerals with precision, efficiency, and far less environmental impact than traditional methods. From rare earth elements essential to clean energy to critical metals powering electronics, synthetic biology is reshaping how we source the building blocks of modern life. This session spotlights innovators designing bio-based recovery systems, scaling sustainable solutions, and reimagining resource extraction.
Featuring
Nicole Richards
Allonnia
CEO
Transformational biological solutions proving waste is the new gold.
Samuel Jayakanthan
Vandstrom
Research Director
Protein nanochannel engineer chasing cheaper desalination at scale.
Luis Valencia
AlkaLi Labs
Co-Founder & CEO
Collaborating with microbes to recycle waste
Jayme Feyhl-Buska
Homeworld Collective
Critical Minerals Lead
Geomicrobiology builder turning microbes into cleaner mining tech
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Planetary Health
Using Science to Remake Meat: The Next Agricultural Revolution
Meat is one of the world’s most complex biomanufacturing systems—and also one of its least optimized. For 12,000 years, we’ve cycled crops through animals to make meat. Drawing from his new book Meat, Bruce Friedrich contends that advances across science and engineering now make it possible to produce meat far more efficiently, which will reduce meat’s contribution to hunger, climate change, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and pandemic risk. Most importantly for the success of alternative meats, these new technologies will also improve food security and add to GDP for the nations that lean in. It’s been exactly ten years since the first plant-based burgers were introduced and also exactly ten years since the first cultivated meat companies were incorporated. Bruce will reflect on how far we’ve come, how far we have to go, and what it's going to take to get there. Welcome to the next agricultural revolution—courtesy of science.
Featuring
Bruce Friedrich
Good Food Institute
Founder & President
Thought leader in alternative meats and proteins, wrote 'Meat'
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Planetary Health
Using Science to Remake Meat: The Next Agricultural Revolution
Meat is one of the world’s most complex biomanufacturing systems—and also one of its least optimized. For 12,000 years, we’ve cycled crops through animals to make meat. Drawing from his new book Meat, Bruce Friedrich contends that advances across science and engineering now make it possible to produce meat far more efficiently, which will reduce meat’s contribution to hunger, climate change, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and pandemic risk. Most importantly for the success of alternative meats, these new technologies will also improve food security and add to GDP for the nations that lean in. It’s been exactly ten years since the first plant-based burgers were introduced and also exactly ten years since the first cultivated meat companies were incorporated. Bruce will reflect on how far we’ve come, how far we have to go, and what it's going to take to get there. Welcome to the next agricultural revolution—courtesy of science.
Featuring
Bruce Friedrich
Good Food Institute
Founder & President
Thought leader in alternative meats and proteins, wrote 'Meat'
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Planetary Health
Artificial Colours are Out, Bio is In: SynBio’s Opportunity–and Risk–in a Changing Food Landscape
Synthetic biology has long offererd vibrant pigments and functional ingredients with consistency, scalability, and improved sustainability. While many US policy shifts are creating headwinds for biotech innovation, the regulatory momentum around food colors and ingredients could open a significant opportunity for synbio adoption. This session examines the opportunities and risks ahead, highlighting how innovators can align with shifting rules, build trust, and bring bio-based ingredients from lab to label in a rapidly evolving food landscape.
Featuring
Birgit Cameron
Prism Bio, Inc.
CEO, Co-founder
Patagonia Provisions cofounder now fermenting sustainable, vivid natural colors.
Ricky Cassini
Michroma
CEO
Gregory Hocking
Mars Snacking
VP Global R&D New Innov. Territories
Reinventing snacking through sustainability and startup bets.
Erum Azeez Khan
Messaginglab
Partner
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Planetary Health
Artificial Colours are Out, Bio is In: SynBio’s Opportunity–and Risk–in a Changing Food Landscape
Synthetic biology has long offererd vibrant pigments and functional ingredients with consistency, scalability, and improved sustainability. While many US policy shifts are creating headwinds for biotech innovation, the regulatory momentum around food colors and ingredients could open a significant opportunity for synbio adoption. This session examines the opportunities and risks ahead, highlighting how innovators can align with shifting rules, build trust, and bring bio-based ingredients from lab to label in a rapidly evolving food landscape.
Featuring
Birgit Cameron
Prism Bio, Inc.
CEO, Co-founder
Patagonia Provisions cofounder now fermenting sustainable, vivid natural colors.
Ricky Cassini
Michroma
CEO
Gregory Hocking
Mars Snacking
VP Global R&D New Innov. Territories
Reinventing snacking through sustainability and startup bets.
Erum Azeez Khan
Messaginglab
Partner
