Frankfurt, Germany and Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.  ICIG Ventures, the venture capital arm of International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), today announced a cooperation agreement with New Iridium, a sustainable chemical innovation company pioneering low-carbon and clean chemistry technologies, to advance next-generation photocatalytic processes in chemical manufacturing. Building on New Iridium’s proprietary light-driven platform for producing CO2-derived chemicals, the c

DENVER, CO – June 10, 2025 – New Iridium , a sustainable chemical innovation company pioneering low-carbon and clean chemistry technologies, today announced it has raised $2.65 million in seed financing. This funding builds on support from the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and ENERGYWERX Vouchers awarded through the DOE’s Office of Te

New Iridium is proud to announce that its flagship products, Bio-Acetic Acid and Bio-Ethyl Acetate , have been officially certified as 100% bio-based under the USDA BioPreferred® Program. This designation affirms the renewable origin and traceability of the carbon content in both products, based on rigorous carbon-14 isotope analysis. The certification was granted following third-party laboratory testing that verified the products are entirely derived from corn-based bio-et

New Iridium is proud to announce a major milestone in its process development: the successful continuous operation of its oxidation flow reactor for over 200 hours. This reactor is a cornerstone of the company’s proprietary technology platform that converts bio-ethanol into bio-based acetic acid and ethyl acetate— sustainable, drop-in alternatives to their fossil-derived counterparts. The achievement marks a significant evolution from earlier batch-mode bubble column reactor

New Iridium is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Uhrig as a Strategic Advisor to support the company’s next stage of growth in low-carbon chemical manufacturing. Jeff Uhrig is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with two decades of experience in the specialty chemicals and sustainable materials sectors. He most recently served as CEO of Novomer and Sirrus, two pioneering chemical technology companies that he successfully led through high-profile exits. Jeff bring

New Iridium has been awarded two prestigious EnergyWerx Vouchers by the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate the commercialization of its bio-based acetic acid and ethyl acetate platform. These awards support the company’s mission to deliver sustainable, low-carbon alternatives to fossil-derived chemicals. Voucher Opportunity 1: Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support Under VO-1: Case Studies for the Decarbonization of Technologies and Supply Chains (Office of Clean

New Iridium has been selected as one of the top four finalists for the Radicle Corn Challenge! We will be pitching our innovative technology at the event on October 22, 2024, in San Francisco. Our groundbreaking process converts corn ethanol into bio-based acetic acid—a critical building block in consumer products like footwear, paint, and adhesives. Acetic acid ranks among the top 10 highest-volume organic chemicals, and we are proud to be driving the transition towards sus

New Iridium is excited to announce that we have been awarded $200,000 in funding through the SBIR Phase I program by the U.S. Department of Energy (EERE BETO). This grant will support the scaling up of our innovative bio-acetic acid solution, bringing us closer to delivering sustainable bio-based materials like EVA, PVA, and PVOH, and advancing our commitment to greener chemical alternatives.

New Iridium has achieved a major technical milestone by demonstrating production of 1kg of plant-based acetic acid from corn ethanol (Figure C). This was accomplished using a custom-built irradiated bubble column photoreactor (Figure A) with a theoretical capacity of 1 metric ton per year. Figure B and video show the bubble column photoreactor in action. Next milestones are a) building a 10 metric tons per year stainless steel bubble column photoreactor and b) improving fra

PHOTOCATALYSTS UPCYCLE CO2 INTO COMMODITY CHEMICALS - A new process uses light instead of heat to produce chemicals – saving energy and using up captured CO2 in the process Highlight: Finding sustainable uses for captured CO2 is the challenge taken up by New Iridium. The company has developed a new photocatalysis platform that can efficiently convert CO2 into new, high-value chemicals using low-carbon materials like plant-based feedstocks such as corn- or sugarcane-based eth