Currently, the world makes over 460 million tons of plastic per year, a number that is set to grow as fossil fuels companies are increasingly turning to plastic production for profits. The problem is only 2% of plastics are ultimately recycled. Epoch BioDesign is looking to change that by using synthetic biology and AI to develop enzymes that eat plastic and can be turned into chemicals.
Jacob Nathan is the CEO of Epoch BioDesign. At age 18, he started the company alongside British biochemist, Professor Douglas Kell, when he discovered microbes capable of breaking down plastic waste during a senior research project. Since then, the company has grown tremendously, and in June 2022, Epoch announced an $11m seed fundraising round.
In this episode we cover...

What inspired Jacob to start Epoch
How enzymes fundamentally work
Machine learning and AI's role in Epoch's process
The chemicals that Epoch is looking to develop
The problems with our current recycling and chemical production processes
Epoch's path to monetization
Challenges facing Epoch as they scale
What Jacob has learned in the founding process
Jacob, the master scuba diver

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Episode Recorded on May 25, 2023

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