Jean-Jacques Degroof is an established technology investor who earned graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has taught business in Belgium and other European countries. With a strong interest in the innovation sphere in Boston, Jean-Jacques Degroof follows the growth arc of companies launched by MIT alumni.
One such enterprise, C16 Biosciences, has pioneered a microbial alternative to palm oil known as torula oil. With palm oil prices kept artificially cheap by the fact that the social and environment costs of creating palm plantations are not factored in, C16 offers a precision oil-producing yeast fermentation process that enables the production of the palm oil substitute. With FDA approval for food product use some time away, the process is initially focused on personal care brands. Founder David Heller (’18) notes that, through using massive vertical stainless steel tanks, the cost (and land footprint) of torula oil can be minimized.
The original impetus for C16 Biosciences was the course MAS.883, “Revolutionary Ventures: How to Invent and Deploy Transformative Technologies.” With the three founders facing an imminent deadline for a final business plan, they brainstormed around a shared passion for resolving climate challenges through the use of biology. Shara Ticku recalled a business trip taken where the skies above Singapore were smoke-filled due to the burning of rainforest for palm plantations in nearby Indonesia. This sparked a memory of Harry McNamara (PhD ’19) about a flight over Costa Rica, when he had witnessed an endless vista of palm plantations instead of untouched nature. This drew their focus to the non-sustainable ways in which palm oil is produced.
After making a successful class presentation, the three took advantage of support from the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund and the MIT $100K Pitch Competition in launching a company that, in early 2023, launched its first commercial product.
