How Algenie came to be and why
Algenie was born out of a simple realisation: algae could save the planet, but only if it makes economic sense. The journey started while Nick, our founder was searching for the red colour for v2food’s plant-based meat. We were confronted with the high cost of algae production, making it clear that a fundamental shift was needed and we started to solve it.
In nature and current production systems, algae typically operates at a tiny fraction of its biological potential. But what if we could unlock 100% of that potential? And what if we could make algae production cheap, scalable and accessible? That question has driven everything we do at Algenie.
Our mission
Our mission is to completely rethink algae production, unlocking its vast potential as a sustainable raw material to replace fossil fuels and drive gigatonne-scale carbon reduction. By developing scalable, cost-effective technologies that transform CO2 into valuable products, we can harness consumer capitalism to drive sustainability and reverse climate change.
Our vision
Algenie’s vision is simple but ambitious: to create economically attractive, scalable algae production for a range of industries. Imagine a world where the products we enjoy—our feed, fuel, plastics and building materials—are produced from algae, which captures twice its weight in CO2 as it grows.
THE FACTS
No current solution comes close. We must find a way to achieve this carbon drawdown while supporting a thriving planet and a high quality of life for all.
A seasoned entrepreneur and innovator, Nick founded v2food, raising $120M across three funding rounds and scaling the company into a leading plant-based meat producer within four years by implementing low-cost, scalable manufacturing solutions and securing key product patents.
Nick is a Cambridge-educated manufacturing and aerospace engineer who has held senior R&D and technology leadership roles at Mars and PepsiCo in three countries, where he created groundbreaking solutions for creating healthier packaged food, food science & packaging innovation. He is also an academic, consultant and thought leader at UTS and Cambridge University.
During his time at v2food, Nick discovered the potential of algae, which led him to found Algenie, focused on harnessing algae’s power for climate solutions. As an engineer, he has been able to create world-first novel manufacturing solutions that will revolutionise the algae photobioreactor.
Associate Professor Mathieu Pernice is a world-leading expert in algae biotechnology and serves as the Deputy Director of the Climate Change Cluster at UTS. He co-leads research teams in Algal Biotechnology and Seagrass and has extensive experience across prominent organizations including LGEM, v2food and CSIRO. Mathieu spearheaded “Project Red,” a groundbreaking initiative to reduce the cost of red pigment for plant-based meat by 10x.
With over 15 years of experience in technology transfer from academia to industry, Mathieu's research focuses on transforming fossil-based systems into sustainable biomanufacturing. His work spans environmental impact assessment, aquaculture, food, and biotechnology, with over 65 articles published in international scientific journals. His ultimate goal is to advance Australia’s bioeconomy through innovative algal biosystems and biotechnology.
John is a DeepTech innovation and R&D expert with a strong focus on AgTech and algae cultivation. Before venturing into the algae sector, John graduated from Stanford University and spend 10 years in medical device R&D, where he led development efforts in several MedTech startups, driving product development from concept through to clinical trials and regulatory approvals. He holds multiple patents and has a proven track record of taking projects from concept to market-ready products.
As a previous founder of another microalgae-focused company, John has proven his dedication to developing innovative solutions for environmental sustainability, aiming to make algae a viable agricultural commodity. His deep research has led to work spanning new equipment design, novel experimental trials, creation of optimisation algorithms, and garnering interest from aquafeed manufacturers for novel ingredients. His expertise in data science, mechatronics and computational simulations has enabled him to push the boundaries of algae technology and further its potential for transforming agriculture.
Graham is an experienced senior executive with expertise in finance, governance, legal and marketing across various industries, including food manufacturing, media, and hospitality. With a background in financial reorganisation, strategy development and cultural change, he has successfully led multiple companies, including serving as CFO and Company Secretary at V2 Food, where he helped raise $190 million and built systems to scale the business globally.
SCIENCE PARTNER
University of Technology Sydney
As one of the worlds top universities in algae research, UTS are the scientific powerhouse behind our algae biotech. UTS Climate Change Cluster (C3) have pioneered algal strain development and understanding of photosynthetic efficiency under the leadership of professor Peter Ralph who advises Algenie.
MANUFACTURING PARTNER
LGEM
LGEM are a Dutch company leading the manufacture of tubular photobioreactors. They deliver high specification systems for high value algae production. LGEM are partnering with us to scale rapidly, leveraging their 25 years of production experience.