Company

Name: Sunthetics

Legal: Sunthetics Inc. 

Location: New York City, New York

Founded: 2017

Founder(s): Myriam Sbeiti and Daniela Blanco

Website: https://sunthetics.org

Industry – Nylon Manufacturing

Size: $25.66B in 2017 (Source: Grand View Research)

Projection: $41.13B by 2025 (Source: Grand View Research)

Introduction

Sunthetics is a New-York based start-up that develops sustainable and efficient methods to fuel the electrochemical and thermochemical reactions as an alternative to the traditional heat-powered ones which are also fossil fuel-dependent . 

The Product

Sunthetics has developed a sustainable and electrical reactor prototype that harnesses the power of renewable energy to replace traditional heat-powered reactions used in the production of adiponitrile (ADN), the key precursor for hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) and Nylon 6,6. The reactor design and operational innovations allow it to operate with 30% less raw material for the same production rate as the state-of-the-art reactors. The reactor also uses 50% less energy than conventional methods while removing 20% of carbon emissions from the manufacturing process. 

Origin and Founding Team

NYU Tandon doctoral student Daniela Blanco and NYU Tandon graduate Myrian Sbeiti are chemical engineers who understand the importance of cost and efficiency in chemical manufacturing but also know that they have a responsibility to the environment and to the society. Under the guidance of Miguel Modestino, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU Tandon and Senior Tech Adviser at Sunthetics, the duo develops equipment that enables an efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective method of chemical manufacturing. 

They envision the process being of interest to the fashion industry as well as the broader chemical-manufacturing world seeking greener production methods. The team continues to work within NYU Tandon’s growing ecosystem of labs and mentorship for innovative startups. The next step for the team is to leverage artificial intelligence to accelerate their research and product development process. 

Performance and Trends

Sunthetics has raised $400,000 worth of funding till date. Their latest funding came with the $150,000 prize money they won at the PowerBridgeNY competition, in April. Daniela Blanco was also named Global Champion at the 2019 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards in Macao in March 2019.