Calysta

Calysta was founded in 2012 in Menlo Park, California{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-10-22/ex-codexis-ceo-shaw-forms-gas-based-biological-feedstock-company|title=Ex-Codexis CEO Shaw Forms Gas-Based Biological Feedstock Company|last=Noel|first=Andrew|date=2012-10-22|work=Bloomberg|access-date=2017-12-14}} by Josh Silverman, and is led by CEO Alan Shaw.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-04-30/biofuel-pioneer-forsakes-renewables-to-make-gas-fed-fuels|title=Biofuel Pioneer Forsakes Renewables to Make Gas-Fed Fuels|last=Herndon|first=Andrew|date=2013-05-01|work=Bloomberg|access-date=2017-12-14}}

By June 2013, the firm began working with NatureWorks to use methane fermentation to produce lactic acid.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chemweek.com/CW/Document/Unauthorized/52888|title=NatureWorks, Calysta Energy enter R&D to produce lactic acid via methane fermentation|last=Protti-Alvarez|first=Francinia|date=2013-06-18|website=Chemical Week|access-date=2017-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214074143/https://www.chemweek.com/CW/Document/Unauthorized/52888|archive-date=2017-12-14|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|last=McCoy|first=Michael|date=2016-03-14|title=NatureWorks advances methane-to-lactic acid|journal=C&EN Global Enterprise|language=en|volume=94|issue=11|pages=15–16|doi=10.1021/cen-09411-buscon004}} However, its main technology is based on a similar method developed in the 1980s by Statoil, an unrelated and state-owned energy company in Norway. In 2014, Calysta purchased and further developed the technology for producing animal feed ingredients. Using the ten-million-dollar total funding from investors including Aqua-Spark, Calysta began a study to determine the viability of a mass production facility.{{Cite news|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/537636/fishing-for-innovation/|title=Innovation for the Fish Farm|last=Schatz|first=Robin D.|date=2015-05-26|work=MIT Technology Review|access-date=2017-12-14|language=en-US}}

In January 2016, the firm began building its pilot facility in Teesside, England. The center was developed with a supplemental grant of £2.8 million ($3.7 million) from the UK Government.{{Cite web|url=http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/business/14205134.Calysta__a_US_biotech_company__is_investing___30m_in_a_fish_feed_centre/|title=Calysta, a US biotech company, is investing £30m in a fish feed centre|last=Bridgen|first=Mike|date=2016-01-14|website=Darlington and Stockton Times|language=en|access-date=2017-12-14}} In early 2016, the firm announced it had raised $30 million in funding led by Cargill, an American agribusiness corporation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/17/methane-eating-bacteria-reduce-impact-fish-demand-feedkind-calysta|title=Methane-eating bacteria could reduce the impact of our big appetite for fish|last=Helmer|first=Jodi|date=2016-03-17|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-12-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

The firm's Teesside facility opened in September 2016.{{Cite news|url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/multi-million-pound-fish-food-11907380|title=Multi-million pound fish food factory which is creating scores of jobs opens on Teesside|last=McNeal|first=Ian|date=2016-09-19|work=Gazette Live|access-date=2017-12-14}} The facility is dedicated to the production of the company's chief product, "FeedKind protein."{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/14755532.Teesside_fish_food_firm_hopes_others_will_catch_on_to_its_protein_venture/|title=Calysta has opened £30m Wilton site to make ingredient aimed at reducing salmon farming industry's dependence on fishmeal|last=Hugill|first=Steven|date=2016-09-21|website=The Northern Echo|language=en|access-date=2017-12-14}} The firm raised an additional $40 million in May 2017 from existing and new investors including Japan's Mitsui & Co. and Singapore's Temasek Holdings.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/singapore-temasek-participates-calysta-40m-series-d-led-mitsui-co-71755/|title=Singapore: Temasek participates in Calysta $40m Series D led by Mitsui|last=Yap|first=Shiwen|date=2017-05-03|website=Deal Street Asia|access-date=2017-12-14}}{{Cite journal|last=Bomgardner|first=Melody M.|date=2017-05-08|title=Calysta raises money for fish food|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i19/Calysta-raises-money-fish-food.html|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|volume=95|issue=19|pages=10}} The firm recently completed its first commercial scale production facility in Chongqing, China with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes of product per year.{{Cite web |title=Calysseo's FeedKind plant opens in China, with demand for premium aquafeed soaring {{!}} SeafoodSource |url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/premium/processing-equipment/calysseos-feedkind-feed-plant-opens-in-china-with-demand-for-premium-feed-soaring |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=www.seafoodsource.com |language=en}}

Calysta's processes rely on methanotrophs (specifically Methylococcus capsulatus) which naturally convert methane into methanol by the enzyme, methane monooxygenase.{{Cite journal|last=Thayer|first=Ann M.|date=2013-04-22|title=Start-ups To Mine Methane Troves|journal=Chemical & Engineering News Archive|language=en|volume=91|issue=16|pages=20–21|doi=10.1021/cen-09116-bus1}} Calysta is producing an alternative yet non-genetically modified protein for use in commercial feed.{{Cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/cargill-s-quest-for-fish-food-grows-enriching-canola-in-montana-and-growing-protein-in-tank/410681245/|title=Cargill's quest for fish food grows, enriching canola in Montana and growing protein in tank|last=Painter|first=Kristen Leigh|date=2017-01-14|work=Star Tribune|access-date=2017-12-14}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/canada-must-prepare-now-for-the-post-carbon-economy/article36523175/|title=Canada must prepare now for the post-carbon economy|last=Lierop|first=Wal Van|date=2017-10-08|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=2017-12-14}} Protein produced from methane is being offered as a substitute or supplement in the farmed fish industry which conventionally employs fishmeal and fish oil as its source of protein.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/mar/11/aqua-spark-sustainable-aquaculture-fish-farming|title=Can Aqua-Spark fund the future of aquaculture?|last=Gunther|first=Marc|date=2015-03-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-12-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

Currently, the company's manufacturing facilities use natural gas as their source of methane. In addition to its facilities in Europe, the firm's first manufacturing facility in the United States is due to open by 2019.It is expected to produce an estimated 20,000 metric tons per year when operational{{Cite news|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/development/2016/11/29/cargill-calysta-open-fish-food-factory-memphis/94606882/|title=Cargill, Calysta to open fish food factory in Memphis|last=Risher|first=Wayne|date=2016-11-29|work=The Commercial Appeal|access-date=2017-12-14|language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Lantrip |first=Patrick |date=2017-04-27 |title=Cargill, Calysta Break Ground on Presidents Island Facility |work=Memphis Daily News |url=https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2017/apr/27/cargill-calysta-break-ground-on-presidents-island-facility/ |access-date=2017-12-14}} and 200,000 metric tons per year when at full capacity.

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• {{Official website|http://calysta.com/}}

Category:2012 establishments in California

Category:Privately held companies based in California

Category:Agriculture companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Menlo Park, California

Category:Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Biotechnology companies established in 2012

Category:Single-cell protein