Erg Bio closes $6.5 million seed round to scale flexible feedstock technology for manufacturing synthetic aviation fuels, chemicals

California-based Erg Bio, an innovator in biomass valorization and advanced bioindustrial technology, announced Nov. 18 that it has closed a $6.5 million seed round led by Azolla Ventures, with participation from Chevron Technology Ventures, Freeflow, Plug and Play and strategic angel investors.

The funding will enable Erg Bio to scale its Aspire™ technology, a proprietary low-temperature pretreatment and catalytic platform, that aims to transform agricultural and forestry wastes into affordable intermediates for synthetic aviation fuels and critical biobased chemicals.

In addition to strengthening U.S. energy independence, Erg Bio said its technology contributes to cleaner, more efficient biomanufacturing by turning agricultural and forestry residues—materials that would otherwise go to waste—into high-value fuels and chemicals.

This process enhances resource efficiency, supports rural economies and diversifies sources of critical intermediates, according to Erg Bio, while advancing both environmental stewardship and domestic energy resilience.

“Our goal is simple yet transformative—turn the world’s most overlooked and abundantly available resources into cost-competitive synthetic aviation fuels and biochemicals,” said Vineet Rajgarhia, co-founder and CEO of Erg Bio. “With the support of our investors and partners, we’re accelerating U.S. bioindustrial manufacturing at a time when domestic capability is vital for energy security and economic growth. This investment allows us to strengthen technical validation and advance toward pilot-scale demonstrations.”

The core innovation behind Erg Bio’s Aspire™ technology builds on foundational research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Joint BioEnergy Institute.

Erg Bio said it has progressed that early work towards a commercial-ready platform capable of producing fuels and chemicals at scale.

The system, according to the company, is feedstock-flexible, operating seamlessly with more than 30 different biomass types, an adaptability that improves supply-chain resilience while supporting cost-effective, flexible regional and global deployment.

“Erg Bio’s process represents a leap forward in industrial biotechnology,” said Blake Simmons, co-founder and chief technology officer of Erg Bio. “It’s engineered for scalability, efficiency and integration of underutilized feedstocks. This investment enables us to expand our engineering and bioprocessing teams.”

Amy Duffuor, general partner and co-founder of Azolla Ventures, said, “Erg Bio’s innovative manufacturing platform showcases how flexible nonfood biomass technologies can reshape the supply chain for synthetic fuels and chemicals. It reflects the kind of systems-level innovation needed to achieve cost-competitive scale and drive growth in the emerging bioeconomy.”

Jim Gable, president of Chevron Technology Ventures, added, “The Erg Bio platform addresses a longstanding bottleneck in cellulosic ethanol production and has the potential to open up this large untapped market.”