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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pumping $3.5 million into C16 Biosciences, the Y Combinator-backed company fermenting alternatives to the environmentally destructive palm oil business. While the industry’s given itself something of a makeover lately, deforestation linked to palm oil production is once again on the rise. Using yeast and agriculturally derived feedstocks, C16 already brews an alternative to the seed oil for use in beauty products, under the name Palmless. A 2020 study found that climate pollution from palm oil plantations alone equate to about half that of the whole aviation industry. In addition to the Gates Foundation and Elemental, C16’s previous investors include Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy and DCVC.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pumping $3.5 million into C16 Biosciences, the Y Combinator-backed company fermenting alternatives to the environmentally destructive palm oil business. While the industry’s given itself something of a makeover lately, deforestation linked to palm oil production is once again on the rise. Using yeast and agriculturally derived feedstocks, C16 already brews an alternative to the seed oil for use in beauty products, under the name Palmless. A 2020 study found that climate pollution from palm oil plantations alone equate to about half that of the whole aviation industry. In addition to the Gates Foundation and Elemental, C16’s previous investors include Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy and DCVC.