Solugen YC Application

Winter 2017Active

Solugen went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2017 batch as a Healthcare company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Winter 2017
Industry: HealthcareIndustrial Bio
Team size: 200
Status: Active
Launched: 2016

Founders

Sean HuntFounder/CTO
Gaurab ChakrabartiFounder

What Solugen does

Solugen is decarbonizing the chemistry of everyday life with enzymes and innovative metal catalysts. Our new to the world Bioforge platform technology can produce high value chemical goods that are biobased and carbon negative, at cost on par with current technologies. We are making sustainable chemistry accessible to all living things, to ensure a prosperous world exists for generations.

Solugen's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Solugen, Winter 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Solugen

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Decarbonizing the chemicals industry.

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We make biobased, carbon-negative chemicals using enzymes and novel catalysts with our Bioforge platform. This lets us produce industrial chemicals at costs comparable to traditional methods but without fossil carbon emissions.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live in Houston, TX and plan to base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Houston is close to chemical industry hubs and raw material supply chains. Being near customers, industrial partners, and talent in this region accelerates scale and product development.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real Solugen YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Solugen's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Solugen would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.