Announcing Earth Day Plus (Apr 22 to May 3) – VC-Founder Matchup + Live Sessions. Learn More

Back
Windfall Bio secures $9M to put methane-eating microbes to work combatting climate change
Back
Lauren McCranie
Lauren McCranie
A methane reading (60x higher than average) in a barn. Source: Windfall Bio

Methane is the second largest contributor to climate change, behind carbon dioxide. It’s responsible for about 30% of the global increase in temperature since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Energy Agency.

Livestock like cows produce a lot of methane via burps and manure. Windfall Bio—which has created methane-eating enzymes that also make fertilizer—emerged from stealth with $9 million in funding to combat this issue. Now, farmers can transform methane from “dangerous waste” into a valuable resource, saving money and saving the planet.

Windfall Bio’s technology produces quantifiable results: “We measure methane into the compost pile, we measure methane coming out of the compost pile, we measure carbon and nitrogen left over in the compost pile,” Windfall founder Josh Silverman told CNBC. “There’s no modeling or uncertainty associated with it. It’s 100% quantifiable with the highest certainty of any type of climate impact that we do have today.”

The funding round was led by Mayfield, with participation from SOSV and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Windfall Bio will start with livestock farms and later move to other source of methane emissions such as wastewater treatment facilities and landfills.

Did you know?