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Sironix R&D space in Seattle. (Sironix Photo)
Sironix Renewables, a startup turning coconuts and soybeans into high-performing cleaning ingredients, has raised $3.5 million from investors and $400,000 in new grants.
The Seattle company will use the funding to scale up the manufacturing and sales of its environmentally-friendly chemicals. Sironix is working with established consumer brands interested in using its plant-derived products that can substitute for petroleum-based ingredients, some of which are linked to cancer and other risks.
The company’s initial target is the personal care space, which includes shampoos, body washes, soaps and other cleansers.
“Consumers care about a few things, but first and foremost, they care about performance and safety, and those are surprisingly hard for product brands to fulfill,” said Christoph Krumm, co-founder and CEO of Sironix. “We have this new ingredient that enables a great environmental profile, great product safety, and it doesn’t sacrifice on performance.”
Sironix’s first offering is a surfactant, which is a class of chemicals that makes shampoo foamy and lifts oily stains out of fabrics. Their product, dubbed Eosix Surfactant, works well in water that is cold and/or hard, which means it contains elevated amounts of minerals. It also has a carbon footprint about half the size of many petrochemicals.
Christoph Krumm, co-founder and CEO of Sironix. (Sironix Photo)
Sironix launched in 2016, spinning out of the University of Minnesota (UMN).
The company has raised nearly $5.2 million in total from investors, and about $7 million in private and government grants.
Krumm has a chemical engineering bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a PhD from UMN. Co-founder Paul Dauenhauer is a chemical engineering professor at UMN and won a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” in 2020.
Sironix operates out of a 3,700-square-foot R&D facility and has three full-time employees, plus part-time workers.
It’s partnering with contract manufacturers around the U.S. to produce its surfactant. The process can be done using standard industrial equipment.
The goal is to get Eosix into personal care items by next year, then go after cleaning and industrial products. In the future, the team hopes to develop safer chemicals for “leave on products” such as moisturizers and sunscreens.
Almost a decade in the making, Krumm is eager reach the step of getting his ingredients into consumers’ hands.
“We’re developing new chemical processes that go up against incumbent technologies that have existed for decades and have large-scale production around the world,” Krumm said. “There are inherently challenges with developing new technology, so it’s exciting to see that whole picture come together.”
The new funding round was led by Arosa Ventures and Oval Park Capital, along with SNØCAP VC, EGB Capital and UMN. Grant and partnership funding sources include the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the United Soybean Board.
