Allonnia

Allonnia

Allonnia was established in October 2020 as a spinout from synthetic biology platform Ginkgo Bioworks, built to commercialize bioremediation technologies at industrial scale. CEO Nicole Richards, previously Strategy, Growth and M&A leader at DuPont Water Solutions, secured Series A funding at launch to build a company that uses engineered microbes and proteins to degrade persistent environmental pollutants and extract critical minerals from waste streams. The firm operates from its headquarters and expanded R&D lab in Boston's Seaport District. The company's deployment strategy targets two distinct markets: PFAS destruction and critical-mineral extraction. For PFAS remediation, Allonnia became the exclusive North American distributor of EPOC Enviro's SAFF (Surface Active Foam Fractionation) technology in early 2022 and later developed a Foam Fractionation Booster to remove short-chain PFAS. The U.S. Department of Defense selected the firm in November 2023 to remediate PFAS, and by August 2024 Allonnia had treated over 146 million gallons of water with one of the largest SAFF treatment systems operating. In mining, its D-Solve platform boosts nickel, copper, and lithium recovery through biosolubilization, demonstrated successfully at Eagle Mine for nickel recovery in August 2025 (per Allonnia, August 2025). Its RE-Cover technology deploys proteins to extract rare earth elements from mine-impacted waters. Geographic deployments span North America, with active U.S. government-funded projects and distribution partnerships, including Terra Systems for in situ remediation. Allonnia raised a $20 million-plus round in December 2025, following a 2023 Series A extension, to accelerate commercial deployment (per Allonnia press release, 2025). The firm's board includes Tom Biegala (Bison Ventures), Marc Doyle, and mining advisor Dean Gehring. Philanthropic structures are not disclosed. Client relationships span industrial operators, federal agencies, and mining companies. The firm's 2040 sustainability goals target 600 billion gallons of water detoxified, 200 million tons of mining waste eliminated, and 150 million tons of CO2 captured. What separates Allonnia structurally is its position as a commercial operating company, not an investment vehicle — it takes engineered biology directly to contaminated job sites and mine operations under service contracts and co-development agreements, compressing the typical lab-to-field timeline. Its origin inside publicly traded Ginkgo Bioworks gives Allonnia cell-engineering infrastructure that pure-play remediation firms cannot replicate, while a growing intellectual property portfolio — including a patent-pending PFAS-detection protein — builds a defensive moat around its treatment systems.