Rivertop gets multi-million dollar investment to develop bio-based ingredients

The contributions will enable Rivertop to commence commercial production of a new class of high-performance chemicals targeted at consumer product and industrial markets.

"This major financing milestone allows us to scale our platform technology and provide a whole new set of products to customers seeking a competitive advantage in the marketplace,"​ says Mike Knauf, CEO of Rivertop.

"Our novel chemicals will enable our customers and partners to innovate within their own product lines with new functionality, cost-performance advantages and sustainability."​

Focus​

Rivertop's initial focus will be on the home care market but it will explore additional opportunities from among several large industries including personal care products

Access to applications is enabled by Rivertop's platform technology which can utilize a range of sugars and sugar alcohols to produce the corresponding ‘sugar acids’. These sugar acids possess a range of properties and will be newly available to industry.

"Rivertop's technology opens new opportunities in the renewable carbon value-chain by unleashing a platform technology with broad applicability,"​ says Doug Cameron, Co-President and Director of First Green Partners.

“We're seeing increased demand for bio-based chemicals amongst the major consumer products companies, and Rivertop is well-positioned to take advantage of this trend."​

Plans​

The Montana-based company will leverage its partner’s funds and an existing manufacturing relationship to produce market development quantities of salts of glucaric acid for select customers.

In addition, it will complete construction and begin operations at a semi-works facility at its headquarters in Missoula, where it will optimize its process for world-scale deployment.

This move will see the company hire more than 20 employees in the next 12 months to support commercial development, effectively doubling the size of its workforce.

"Cargill's investment in Rivertop is strategic given the compatibility of our expertise and resources in multiple feedstocks, worldwide facilities and access to key industries,"​ adds Brian Silvey, Vice President of Corn Milling North America at Cargill.

"We are impressed by the broad applicability of the Rivertop platform to address multiple billion dollar market segments."​