Crysalis Biosciences

What Crysalis Biosciences does

Crysalis Biosciences is a US-based private biorefinery company founded in 2022 by Eric and Sanket Gandhi (the latter ex-NREL), headquartered at a 55 million gallon-per-year ethanol facility in Sauget, Illinois, with an R&D pilot laboratory in Louisville, Colorado. The company specializes in acquiring and repurposing dormant industrial ethanol infrastructure into multi-product biorefineries, with its flagship 'Monarch' project converting the Sauget plant into a commercial facility for low-carbon pharmaceutical-grade solvents and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) via the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathway. The platform combines grain-to-ethanol fermentation with co-product recovery to produce distillers corn oil (DCO), wet and dried distillers grains (WDG, DDGS), condensed distillers solubles (CDS), and captured biogenic CO2.

Crysalis generates revenue across six product streams: ethanol (as ATJ feedstock and gasoline blendstock), SAF, pharmaceutical-grade solvents, animal feed co-products, DCO as low-CI SAF feedstock, and monetized biogenic CO2. Distribution is enterprise B2B direct sales with company-managed rail and trucking logistics, and the company has a $22-$35/hr technical workforce on site at Sauget. The company is anchored by the SAFFA Fund I investment from Airbus (announced August 2024), a bio-based solvent co-development partnership with Nitto (May 2023), and CO2 capture and liquefaction partners for carbon storage.

As of March 2026, the Sauget plant was shuttered and in the process of reopening, and five creditors had filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Crysalis for unpaid construction materials and services, which the CEO publicly characterized as 'noise.' The company is structured as Crysalis Biosciences, Inc., incorporated in Illinois, privately held, with 51-100 employees.

Name

Crysalis Biosciences

Legal name

Crysalis Biosciences, Inc.

Website

https://crysalisbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Crysalis Biosciences is a US private biorefinery that repurposes dormant ethanol plants to produce low-carbon pharmaceutical-grade solvents, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, ethanol, and animal feed and CO2 co-products from a single facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Low-Carbon Biochemicals

NAICS

Ethyl Alcohol Manufacturing (325193)

SIC

Medicinal Chemicals & Botanical Products (2833)

akta.pro primary industry

Grain & Sugar-Based Ethanol Production (EUAAAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cellulosic Biofuels & Renewable Fuels (2G ethanol, SAF intermediates) (IMAMALAA), Bio-based Platform & Commodity Chemicals (e.g., bio-ethylene, bio-propylene, bio-BTX, bio-methanol) (EUAAAIAA), Biofuels & Renewable Fuels Switching (Biomethane/RNG, Bio-oils, Sustainable Biomass) (EUABAJAD), Biofuel Upgrading, Hydrotreating & Refining (Co-processing, Isomerization) (EUAAAHAG)

Keywords

• Sustainable aviation fuel
• Low carbon ethanol
• Pharmaceutical grade solvents
• Biorefining services
• Distillers grains feed

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Ethanol Sales: Production and sale of high-purity ethanol as ATJ feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel and biofuel for gasoline blendstock
2. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Production and sale of SAF converted from ethanol via ATJ pathway for aviation industry decarbonization
3. Pharmaceutical-Grade Solvents: Production of high-purity solvents for pharmaceutical applications utilizing proprietary technology
4. Animal Feed Co-products: Sale of protein-rich co-products including DDGS, Wet Distillers Grains, and Condensed Distillers Solubles for livestock feed
5. Distillers Corn Oil: Production of low Carbon Intensity feedstock for SAF and renewable fuel applications
6. Biogenic CO2: Captured CO2 from fermentation for monetization via CO2 capture, liquefaction, and carbon storage solutions

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Crysalis Biosciences converts idle or dormant ethanol plants into advanced biorefineries using a proprietary modular biomanufacturing platform. Its flagship Monarch project transforms a 55 million gallon-per-year ethanol facility in Sauget, Illinois into commercial production of low-carbon pharmaceutical-grade solvents, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and ethanol, alongside co-products including distillers corn oil, wet and dried distillers grains, condensed distillers solubles, and biogenic CO2.

Product overview

Crysalis Biosciences operates a single unified biorefining platform centered on the Monarch project, which converts a 55 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Sauget, IL into a commercial facility producing low-carbon pharmaceutical grade solvents and Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The platform produces core products (ethanol, SAF, pharmaceutical solvents) alongside a portfolio of co-products including Distillers Corn Oil (DCO), Condensed Distillers Solubles (CDS), Wet Distillers Grains (WDG), Dry Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS), and Biogenic CO2. The process flows from grain receiving through milling, mash prep, fermentation, distillation, evaporation, purification, and storage, with co-products recovered at various stages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Distillers Corn Oil (DCO)

Quantifiable outcome

• Produces low-carbon products reducing carbon intensity compared to conventional ethanol production
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NittocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2023Crysalis Biosciences collaborated with Nitto on bio-based transformation of organic solvents for achieving carbon neutrality. This partnership focuses on developing sustainable solvent solutions.
• CO2 Capture and Liquefaction PartnerscoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnerships for monetization of biogenic CO2 through CO2 capture and liquefaction, including next-generation carbon storage solutions for domestic markets.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Velocys: Velocys develops Fischer-Tropsch SAF technology and projects, positioning itself in the same low-carbon aviation fuel space as Crysalis. Both compete for airline and aviation offtake agreements and policy-driven incentives.
• Aemetis, Inc. Aemetis produces low-carbon ethanol and is developing cellulosic SAF capacity using similar carbon-intensity-driven economics. It operates biorefinery assets and pursues the same renewable fuel offtake channels.
• Gevo, Inc. Gevo produces low-carbon renewable hydrocarbons including SAF via the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathway using ethanol as feedstock — the same core pathway Crysalis pursues at Monarch. Both target aviation decarbonization and sell into similar offtake channels.
• LanzaTech: LanzaTech uses gas fermentation to produce ethanol which can be converted to SAF via ATJ, directly mirroring Crysalis's feedstock-to-SAF logic. It targets the same aviation customers and competes for the same carbon-advantaged fuel premium.

Emerging players

• Bloom Biorenewables: Bloom Biorenewables develops bio-based platform chemicals from biomass, partially overlapping with Crysalis's higher-margin bioproducts/solvents strategy. Comparable technology stack focused on replacing petrochemical inputs.
• Prometheus Fuels: Prometheus is developing low-carbon synthetic and bio-derived fuels including SAF using carbon capture and renewable power. It targets similar aviation and transportation decarbonization customers.

Broad incumbents

• Green Plains Inc. Green Plains is a major U.S. ethanol producer pivoting toward higher-value bioproducts including SAF/renewable diesel precursors and protein. It shares Crysalis's biorefinery economics and grain-based feedstock base.
• Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): ADM is a global agribusiness and major corn/ethanol producer with a growing renewable fuels and bioproducts portfolio. Its scale and feedstock access make it a relevant comparable for Crysalis's grain-to-biofuels business.
• Lummus Technology: Lummus licenses biofuel and renewable fuel process technologies including ATJ and renewable diesel pathways. As a technology licensor it competes with Crysalis's proprietary biorefinery platform for downstream biofuel developers.
• POET, LLC: POET is the largest U.S. ethanol producer with similar grain-to-ethanol operations and a growing portfolio of bio-based co-products and SAF initiatives. Comparable business model and end markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crysalisbio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crysalis Biosciences