1849 bio

Engineering microbes for miners to unlock billions in trapped metal

Y CombinatorSummer 2024ActiveIndustrialsHard TechSynthetic BiologyBiotechClimate

What they do

Problem

Most copper and gold ores and mining waste stockpiles cannot be profitably processed with existing biomining methods, leaving large amounts of metal economically trapped.

Solution

The company engineers microbes that enable low-cost biomining to extract copper and gold from low-grade ores and waste materials.

Who it's for

Mining companies and mineral processing operators seeking to recover metals from low-grade ores, tailings, and stockpiles.

Founders

Jai Padmakumar

Founder

Co-founder and CEO of 1849 bio. I get excited working on difficult problems with outsized impacts if you can solve them. I studied Microbiology and Applied Math at the University of Washington before doing my PhD at MIT in a synthetic biology lab. I've spent my time pushing the limits of what’s possible in bioengineering. 1849 is my second startup, the first of which I co-founded during grad school and led the early science at.

Yongjin Park

Founder

I am the co-founder and CSO of 1849 bio. I studied chemical engineering at KAIST and did my PhD at MIT in the Department of Biological Engineering. During my PhD, I developed core technology used in the world's first engineered probiotic that went into clinical trial. After completing PhD, I worked in deep biotech companies, developing microbial products that were administered to over 6M acres of farmland in the US (about the area of Belgium!).