"And I haven't looked back!"
We at Carbon13 are proud of having so many bright, inspiring minds participating in our programmes and of the many fantastic teams, like yours, in our portfolio. Let’s turn on the spotlight.
Would you briefly introduce yourself, please?
I’m Ben Wilding CEO and co-founder of Sun Bear Biofuture. I’ve spent the last 15 years founding and growing my own businesses, mostly in technology. When covid struck I decided I needed a change and took 2020 to volunteer for 2 charities in horticulture and agriculture. Being surrounded by people talking about biodiversity lose, climate change and sustainability was eye opening and a lightbulb moment for me – I knew I had to work on climate impact. So I signed up to a masters in sustainability and behaviour change and then joined Carbon 13 in April 2022. And I haven’t looked back!
"Our approach uses 90% less land and produces 90% fewer emissions"
What is your and your team’s vision?
Myself and the Sun Bear Biofuture team are working on producing alternative fats and oils using yeast and precision fermentation. It’s basically like brewing beer but we’re brewing oils for the cosmetics and food sectors. Why? Because palm oil alone is responsible for over half a billion tonnes of carbon annually and none of the other vegetable oils are great for the planet either. Our approach uses 90% less land and produces 90% fewer emissions.
What makes your team a great team?
The best thing we have is our culture – genuinely open and honest. That’s not a trait that is easily created or maintained. It is however invaluable in complex, challenging and sometimes frustrating endeavours such as biotechnology. We are able to leverage that cultural trait to move faster and make greater progress by dealing with challenges more rapidly.
When you look back on your time in the programme, what memory comes to mind immediately?
Great question – I remember exhilarating but long days, packed with varied conversations with people from amazing backgrounds. I then remember going back to my accommodation each evening and googling things like ‘green ammonia’ and ‘battery recycling’ to try and understand what half the people had been talking about. It stretched me intellectually and I loved it.
"right now we are working on an MOU with a major UK food ingredients manufacturer to build the world's largest dedicated alternative oil production facility here in the UK"
What do you consider to be the biggest challenge you have faced so far, and how did you solve it or how do you plan to solve it?
One of the biggest challenges precision fermentation companies face is scaling up. No investor is interested in you spending their hard raised funds on manufacturing facilities. That said, without the facility there is no product, no business and no point. To overcome this we have been developing strategic collaborations and right now are working on an MOU with a major UK food ingredients manufacturer to build the world’s largest dedicated alternative oil production facility here in the UK – very exciting times.
What is the next milestone ahead of you and how do you plan to achieve it?
The main focus for me right now is our Seed raise.
When talking to investors, what question do you hear far too often / what question would you like to hear more often?
I hear a lot of great questions. I’m a firm believer in there’s no such thing as a dumb question, I’ve pretty much made my career on them. I think over all the VC world needs to look long and hard at how we are going to solve climate change and more firms need to be prepared to back deeptech, slower, more expensive, harder and longer term plays because that’s where the future is. Quite literally.
Palm oil plantations have the highest carbon footprint per unit area of all globally relevant agricultural products. This is mainly due to deforestation and the draining of peatlands. Biomass has been stored and preserved in the often metre-thick peat soils for thousands of years.
"that first tonne of our product being shipped will be magical"
What do you think climate tech entrepreneurs need to bring in order to be successful?
An ability to be prepared to be knocked down again and again and keep getting up – it’s tiresome but research has shown that resilience and success are connected. We can all do with a good dose of luck too.
Building a start-up is a rollercoaster ride with many ups and downs. What tips do you have for founders to cope with this?
Emotional temperance is a really great skill to develop and work at maintaining. The reality is that whatever major issue you’re facing right now is not going to make or break you or the business. There’s always another partner, deal, person, whatever it may be. Enjoy the good times and try not to sweat the bad times too much…easier said than done.
What are you really looking forward to?
I’m extremely excited about the prospect of us having the world’s largest production facility of alternative fats and oils in 2026. If we pull it off then we will be producing hundreds of tonnes of our oils. At that moment in time we will finally be having a positive impact on the planet. That’s the only reason I wanted to do this. The R&D is interesting, the fundraising is an experience, the customer validation is of course necessary but until we’re making large quantities of product and replacing some of the existing market all we’re really doing is negatively impacting the planet ourselves – that first tonne of our product being shipped will be magical.
