CO₂-to-chemical start-up Again raises $43 million

The synthetic biology start-up Again has raised $43 million in a series A funding round led by GV, formerly Google Ventures. Again is commercializing a fermentation process that uses genetically engineered microbes to make acetic acid and derivatives from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Again launched in 2021 based on research conducted at the Technical University of Denmark, Stanford, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Last fall, the firm started up a pilot plant at a wastewater treatment facility in Copenhagen. The system takes the methane-rich gas stream from an anerobic digester, converts the CH 4 to H 2 and CO 2 , and feeds that mix into a bioreactor with an output capacity of roughly 5,000 metric tons (t) per year. The firm says the resulting acetate chemicals are suitable for use in adhesives, solvents, plastics, textiles, and cosmetics and have a carbon footprint one-fifth the size of the conventional