Edition #11 - Protein from air, Australia's golden opportunity and biomanufacturing jobs
James Ryall
Helping to bring biomanufactured products to market faster?? | Strategic advisor and fractional CSO/CTO | ex-Vow, ex-NIH
NOTE: After a few weeks off with a nasty case of pneumonia, I'm back on board with a brand new edition!
Hi, I’m James ??
I'm a strategic advisor and fractional CSO/CTO with over 20 years of experience in biotech and executive leadership, I've built high-performing teams and led groundbreaking research in stem cell metabolism, regenerative medicine, and cultured meat. My mission is to collaborate with visionary biotech founders, from pre-seed to Series B+, to accelerate the journey of world-changing products to market.
Every week I share news and stories about the latest innovations across the biomanufacturing value-chain. In each newsletter I share:
?? If you find my content interesting or want to learn more about my services then check out my website (see here) which contains additional stories and (free!) resources for biomanufacturing companies.
???Featured Interview: Protein from Air?
This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with David McLellan , Founder and CEO of gas fermentation company Jooules . ?? Through my work as an advisor and these newsletters, I’ve been fortunate to connect with founders across various biomanufacturing technologies, but this was my first deep dive into gas-based fermentation — the process of making protein from air! ??
David’s path to biomanufacturing was anything but linear. Growing up in New Zealand, he started out as a trainee forest ranger ?? and worked in the forestry and logging industry ??. But the appeal of a lifetime of physical labour faded, so David pivoted, earning an accounting degree and pursuing a career in finance. After nearly becoming a stock broker before the infamous Black Monday ??, he navigated the finance world, from treasury finance in Wellington to Goldman Sachs in London.
When he eventually returned to New Zealand, a new opportunity awaited. The electricity market was about to launch ?, and David joined the newly formed “Contact Energy”. Following a number of years helping to shape the new sector David took his first step into entrepreneurship by establishing the Australian electricity futures contract and market, in partnership with the then Sydney Futures Exchange and NZ national grid operator Transpower.
“I didn’t make much of anything material from that experience, though it did transform the market!” ?? David reflected, but he gained a lot of wisdom.
Alongside the derivatives business, David was also building a thermal processing company — a “canning” process, but without cans ?? — aiming to create shelf-stable food in pouches. This venture was his first introduction to capital raising. And while they successfully raised funds, he realized the real value was in the lessons learned. Here are David’s top three takeaways from that period:
Following his own advice, David returned to the retail energy sector and then joined PwC as a management consultant. Yet, while he enjoyed the security, his passion for solving big challenges — like food security and climate change ?? — kept calling him back to entrepreneurship.
Looking at food security and emissions issues, David explored fermentation. While precision fermentation held promise, its reliance on crop-based feedstocks left it vulnerable to climate impacts. But gas fermentation was different: by using bacteria to convert gases like CO? and hydrogen into biomass, it offered a feedstock-free pathway.
“Is there a better way?” ??
Gas fermentation feeds bacteria with CO?, hydrogen, and nitrogen, allowing them to grow rapidly, doubling in under an hour. This produces a “complete” protein rich in essential amino acids, making it a highly attractive ingredient. ???
Jooules uses continuous fermentation to extract protein as it’s produced. The resulting biomass is collected, heat-treated (similar to pasteurizing milk ??), pelleted, and spray-dried, yielding a powder that’s over 75% protein. Since hydrogen production is energy-intensive, scaling gas fermentation will depend on access to cheap, renewable energy. ??
Founded in 2022, Jooules’ focus is B2B — providing high-quality protein ingredients for various food manufacturers. Currently, they operate at a 10L biorector scale, following a successful pre-seed round led by Sprout Agritech ??. Much of Jooules' research and development happens in collaboration with SCION, a New Zealand research institute with expertise in gas fermentation.
Building the right team has been one of David’s biggest challenges. ??Being a sole founder can be lonely, so building a network and finding sounding boards has been invaluable. Another key challenge? Raising capital ??. Deep-tech innovation is cash-intensive, and securing funds is never easy.
A standout principle for David is his commitment to paying people at or near market rate, rather than leaning solely on “sweat equity.” Striking a balance between salary and equity attracts the best talent and shows his commitment to building a robust team.
For David, the most rewarding part of entrepreneurship is the progress on tough problems and sharing wins with his team and supporters ??. Returning to that comfort of a regular salary isn’t on his radar anymore:
“People have stopped telling me to go and get a day job, as they know it’s not going to happen.”
As I do with every interview, I asked David if he had an ‘ask’ for the community. Jooules is currently raising a seed round to reach a 300L pilot scale. If you’re working in gas fermentation or exploring potential collaboration opportunities, especially in strain development or downstream products, David would love to connect.
?? Story highlight:?The Biomanufacturing Revolution: Australia's Golden Opportunity
Biomanufacturing is set to revolutionize global industries, from food and textiles to cosmetics, biofuels, and industrial chemicals. McKinsey reports that up to 60% of consumer goods could have bio-based alternatives, while Boston Consulting Group estimates a staggering $30 trillion in economic potential. ??
Governments worldwide are taking notice. The US has launched the $1 billion BioMADE initiative, Japan has established the Biomanufacturing Revolution Fund, and China, India, and the UK have similar programs in place. But where does Australia stand in this global race? ??
Australia has a unique opportunity to become a world leader in biomanufacturing. Our advantages are numerous:
1?? Abundant feedstock: From Queensland's sugarcane to grains and pulses in the southern states, we have the critical carbohydrates and proteins needed for large-scale biomanufacturing.
2?? Established logistics and transport hubs
3?? World-class scientific and engineering talent
4?? Proximity to the entire APAC market
5?? Attractive R&D tax incentives
These existing strengths position Australia as an ideal location for companies looking to establish new biomanufacturing operations. However, to truly capitalize on this opportunity, we need more.
Imagine if all these advantages were backed by a dedicated federal "BioMADE in Australia" fund and a cohesive national strategy. As we transition away from our reliance on the mining industry, Australia has a narrow window to position itself as a global leader in biomanufacturing.
The potential is enormous:
We need our state and federal governments to recognize this opportunity and provide the necessary support. This includes:
The biomanufacturing revolution is underway, and I am hopeful that state and federal governments will grab this opportunity and make Australia a global leader in this industry. ??
?? Things I’m reading this week
While researching the post above, I came across this announcement from BioMADE in the US. This article details the investment of nearly $27m across 17 new projects. The projects span a huge breadth of sectors, including:
All of the projects are interesting, but a few that caught my eye were focussed on leveraging waste to produce new, high-value products including textile fibres from spent yeast, carbon fibres from bio-waste, and high value lubricants from food waste. Check out the article for a list of projects and the relevant academic institutions and industry partners.
This (very short) article caught my attention as an interesting use of DoE. As someone late to the party with using DoE (I wish I had known about the power of DoE during my PhD, I could have done 10X as much in half the time!), I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to use it. This short piece by Vivienne Raper describes a team using DoE to understand the impact of “worst-case scenarios” on upstream processes. The team are looking to understand how minor variability in upstream processes (such as a minor temperature, gas or pH fluctuation) might impact the downstream product (in their case the activity of a drug molecule, but it could equally apply to any property of a downstream product ie. flavour or tensile strength).
This is a link to the most recent “Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research” (or SCOPR) from Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA), the peak body representing technology-transfer professionals across Australia and NZ. Released annually, these reports are always full of interesting info and stats about Australia/NZ commercialisation. I can’t really do the report justice in a short summary, other than to say that it is great to see innovation trending upwards, even if the slope of the upwards curve is lower than we would all like to see.
?? Biomanufacturing jobs
This is a new section for my newsletter that I’m trialling out. If you have a role that you’d like me to share (anywhere in the world), then please email me - [email protected]
1?? Process Engineering Manager Cauldron Ferm (Brisbane, QLD, Australia)
2?? Head of Engineering Uluu (Perth, WA, Australia)
Until next week,
James
PS- If you are working on something amazing in the biomanufacturing space, and you’d like to featured in the newsletter - I’d love to hear from you!
Executive, Leadership and Commercial Headhunter Med Tech, Med Device, Pharma, Life Sciences
1 周Love this James Ryall, I hope you are feeling better.
Founder & CEO at Jooules | food biotech | renewable energy
2 周Many thanks James Ryall . I enjoyed the conversation ! You're very correct, certainly not a linear path for me to Jooules. But more often than not that's life isnt it ?! Im impressed by your ability to compress 35+ years of my commercial experience into a few succinct paragraphs ! Well done indeed ! In truth we could all write at least a book on our journeys, it's easy to overlook some of the lessons and details, especially the painful ones. The rose-tinted glasses are never far away. Picking 3 key lessons from what is a long list of possibles is always hard of course. I stand by the ones you've noted, but in reality it's a long and growing list - so many "learning opportunities" ! Producing proteins from a gaseous fermentation process is for us a natural and logical progression in the pathway to a sustainable food system. We call it unlocking protein potential. As a platform for the production of high quality proteins or target molecules (aka precision fermentation) it holds enormous promise to decouple food production from limited natural resources and the volatility associated with a changing climate.
I am a passionate food innovator with heart for a sustainable planet that enjoys to connect people.
2 周Lucian Miron
Helping to bring biomanufactured products to market faster?? | Strategic advisor and fractional CSO/CTO | ex-Vow, ex-NIH
3 周If you haven't already then you can subscribe here (and check out the previous 10 editions) - https://www.dhirubhai.net/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7218764929745477632