The vast majority (90%) of Americans are falling short of their dietary fiber needs despite growing awareness of its many health benefits. Food manufacturers have yet to find the perfect fiber ingredient – one that is natural, functional, and versatile – to fill the 2-million-ton annual fiber gap in the US alone.
Meanwhile, nature’s best fiber, arabinoxylan, has laid dormant in plant materials left behind and processed out of our modern food system. Arabinoxylan is an exceptional soluble dietary fiber with clinically proven health benefits and superior tolerance in the gut.
Only COMET has the patented upcycling technology needed to unlock arabinoxylan’s full potential and make it available in our proprietary line of ARRABINA dietary fibers. ARRABINA’s versatility makes it easy to add the clinically proven benefits of arabinoxylan to ANY food/beverage/supplement application and help close the fiber gap.
Meliora Bio has a modern state of the art biorefinery upcycling straw for bioethanol, prebiotics, and lignin. The refinery was built by Ørsted in 2009, and since 2020 it has been a part of Karsten Ree Holding. The plant is part of a sustainable industrial park and utilizes biomass based steam, wind energy, and other green technology.
In 2021, COMET partnered with Meliora Bio to build out and expand the existing plant using our patented upcycling techonology. The dedicated manufacturing facility supplies over 4 million kilograms of ARRABINA annually.
The COMET management team brings a wide range of cross-disciplinary experience. The team is aligned around the challenge of developing large scale food technologies to cost-effectively deliver sustainable, healthy and innovative products. With over a century of experience in clean technology development, finance and associated product and market development, the leadership team is ready to usher in the future of dietary fiber.
Chief Executive Officer
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Chief Business Officer
Chairman
Partner, Sofinnova Partners
Investment Manager, PM Equity Partner
Partner, Open Prairie
Retired President & CEO, Western Sugar Cooperative
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Partner, BDC Capital
Chief Executive Officer
PROUD MEMBER OF:
700 Collip Circle, Suite 209 London, ON N6G 4X8
1051 Perimeter Drive, Suite 1150 Schaumburg, IL 60173
Rich brings a unique combination of corporate development, operations and finance expertise in industrial biotechnology. Mr. Troyer was previously the Chief Business Officer at Coskata, where he oversaw business development, strategic planning, project development and external relations. Before joining Coskata, he was a Managing Director at The Blackstone Group, where he was responsible for investments in biofuels and bio-chemicals companies.
As COMET’s founder Andrew brings expertise in process development and commercialization of new technologies. He is a recognized expert in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biorefining and biomass based fuels and chemicals, including cellulosic sugars. Andrew has a successful track record of developing and scaling biomass conversion processes and the production of linerboard pulp from ryegrass straw, including converting cellulose derivatives, ethanol and butanol, into transportation fuels.
Loula has over 15 years of experience in agribusiness and energy industries. Previously the Director of Project Development at Coskata, she was responsible for the development and financing of commercial projects. She also spent 8 years at McKinsey & Company, serving clients at the intersection of chemicals and agribusiness industries, including multinational fertilizer, agrochemical and food companies.
Doug has a strong background in leading the design, construction and operations of new technologies within the alternative chemical processing field. Doug is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He has extensive experience in designing and implementing biomass conversion processes and facilities with overall project and budgetary responsibility. Doug has worked on a range of biomass feedstocks including wheat straw, corn stover, grasses, and woodchips for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and bio-based chemicals.
Dennis has 25 years of experience in project management, project engineering, process development, equipment design and plant operations in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biomass based fuels and environmental technology industries. Dennis has proven ability to organize, manage and implement technical projects from inception to commissioning and is an expert in conducting technical evaluations, design layouts and improving production capacity and quality in biomass programs.
Bruce brings a wealth of experience to COMET. As President of Conifer Investments, LLC, a strategic advisory firm, he has experience in finance, bio-products, agriculture and energy. Bruce’s previous advisory assignments include Intrexon Energy Partners (energy biotech), Prairie Aquatech (animal nutrition), Novita Nutrition (animal nutrition, former Board member), Benson Hill Biosystems (agricultural biotech, former Board member), Proviera Biotech (probiotics), Benefuel Inc. (biodiesel, former Board member), Ensyn Corporation (biofuels, former Board member), GTUIT LLC (natural gas processing), and Osage BioEnergy (biofuels, former Board member).Bruce served as Board Chairman and CEO of Mascoma Corporation (industrial biotech) acquired by Lallemand Inc. He served as President, CFO and Board member of VeraSun Energy (biofuels) acquired by Valero Energy. Bruce founded Conifer Investments, previously a boutique investment banking firm. He served as Vice President of U.S. Natural Resources, Inc., an affiliate of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company. He also worked at The First Boston Corporation (acquired by Credit Suisse) and Citibank. Mr. Jamerson earned a M.S. degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.G.S from the University of Michigan.
Joško Bobanovic joined Sofinnova in 2010 as Partner of the Sofinnova Green Seed Fund dedicated to seed activities in renewable chemistry and bio-energy. Prior to joining Sofinnova he spent eight years in venture capital with iNovia Capital and its fund MSBi Capital in Montreal, Canada. Joško was responsible for cleantech investments at the fund, and focused on seed and early stage investments in cleantech and information technology. Prior to his venture capital career he created an internet startup and a software company. After completing his PhD studies Joško developed real-time ocean forecasting systems still used at Environment Canada for coastal ocean management. Joško holds a BSc. in physics from University of Zagreb, a PhD. in physical oceanography from Dalhousie University and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from McGill University.
Marco has been Investment Manager of PM Equity Partner since 2015. He was a key Member of the PMI M&A and Corporate Planning Team since 2012 until 2015. He is an Engineer versed in classical languages and combines deep financial and business planning expertise with solid technical understanding. Early in his career, he moved to the UK to join a high-tech start-up before he joined PMI in 2006. He held several positions in financial management and business planning. Mr. Brunazzo serves as a Member of Advisory Board at TreaTech Sàrl.
Tom will utilize experience from his 30 year career in agribusiness with Tate & Lyle to identify and assess investment opportunities and assist portfolio companies in development of strategic objectives resulting in operational efficiencies and value creation for stakeholders. He is the Founder and President of Tadvise, an independent consulting firm that works with corporate and private equity clients, ranging in size from small businesses to Fortune 100, to improve performance and accelerate profitability. At Tate & Lyle, a leading multi-billion global agribusiness company providing high quality, specialty ingredients solutions to the food, beverage, health and wellness industries, Tom held a variety of leadership positions. As Senior Vice President of Food and Industrial Ingredients for the Americas, he was responsible for all commercial aspects of the $2 billion division covering North and South America and specialty businesses in Asia, Australia and South Africa, achieving record sales. Tom was also Senior Vice President of Food Ingredients for the Americas, an $800 million business unit with operations on five different continents. In this role, he produced double-digit margin growth in each year of his tenure, managed multiple new product launches, developed merger and joint venture strategies and directed several acquisitions. While serving as Vice President of Sales for Food Ingredients for the Americas, Tom managed all components of sales and marketing for the $400 million business. He received his Executive MBA from the University of Illinois and has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Denver.
Inder brings over 30 years of experience to the Comet Bio team in ingredient manufacturing, agribusiness, and the food and beverage industry. He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of the Denver-based Western Sugar Cooperative, a $500 million sugar beet refining and marketing company. Before joining Western Sugar Cooperative, Inder served as CFO of Tate & Lyle North America where he developed a deep understanding of commodity markets. Specifically, Inder led the Finance function and served as a member of the Senior Executive team of the $3.5 billion Tate & Lyle North America Group comprising of sugar cane, sugar beet, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, and farm feed subsidiaries across North America.
As COMET’s founder Andrew brings expertise in process development and commercialization of new technologies. He is a recognized expert in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biorefining and biomass based fuels and chemicals, including cellulosic sugars. Andrew has a successful track record of developing and scaling biomass conversion processes and the production of linerboard pulp from ryegrass straw, including converting cellulose derivatives, ethanol and butanol, into transportation fuels.
Matt joined BDC in 2020 as a Director, Cleantech Practice. He draws on his extensive experience in corporate sustainability, innovation, strategy and venture capital to help climate-positive technology companies, entrepreneurs and investors accelerate the transition to a sustainable, climate-resilient future.
Before coming to BDC, Matt helped build IKEA’s corporate venture investment platform in the Netherlands, supporting thesis development, deal origination, execution and management of venture and growth equity investments into sustainable companies around the world. He also helped build-up IKEA’s Sustainability Innovation team, where he led explorations into the future of home energy, zero-emissions transport, urban farming, bio-based materials and circular business models. Prior to IKEA, Matt worked with EY’s Sustainability Advisory practice in the UK and with Deloitte’s Strategy practice in Toronto and Ottawa, and is the founder of SOMEWORKS, a boutique sustainability advisory firm.
Matt holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Mount Allison University and a Master of Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.
