# Noah Helman

> Noah Helman is the co-founder and CEO of Industrial Microbes (iMicrobes), an Alameda, California synthetic biology company that engineers the central metabolism of microbes so they can eat cheap, renewable feedstocks - ethanol and methane - and spit out the chemicals normally pumped from petroleum. A Stanford applied-physics PhD who spent roughly a decade in physics labs before crossing into biology, Helman co-founded the company in 2014 with two fellow alumni of the biofuels startup LS9. iMicrobes targets drop-in, cost-competitive, net-zero versions of acrylic acid (for paints and adhesives) and acrylonitrile (for carbon fiber). The company went through Y Combinator's W15 batch, holds more than 20 patents, raised a $10M+ seed round in late 2024, and in 2025 announced it had scaled production of 100% bio-based, high-purity acrylic acid.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Industrial Microbes (iMicrobes)
- **Organizations:** Industrial Microbes (iMicrobes), LS9, Inc., University of California, San Francisco, Stanford University, Kenan Systems / Lucent Technologies / CSG Systems
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Stanford University, Postdoctoral fellow, synthetic biology, University of California, San Francisco
- **Known for:** Co-founded Industrial Microbes (2014) and leads it as CEO., Built the company's microbial strain-engineering platform, drawing on his LS9 work in directed evolution and metabolic engineering., Industrial Microbes holds 20+ patents on bio-based chemical pathways.

## Career timeline

- **1999-2005** — Earns a Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Stanford University.
- **2005-2009** — Four-year postdoctoral fellowship at UC San Francisco in a leading synthetic biology lab - the pivot from physics to biology.
- **approx. 2009-2014** — Scientist II at LS9, Inc., a startup engineering bacteria to make biofuels and commodity chemicals; builds software and wet-bench methods to speed directed evolution of enzymes.
- **2014** — Co-founds Industrial Microbes with fellow LS9 alumni Derek Greenfield and Elizabeth Clarke.
- **2015** — Industrial Microbes goes through Y Combinator's Winter 2015 batch; wins awards including Alberta's CCEMC Grand Challenge (G-Prize).
- **2024-11** — Closes first tranche of a $10M+ seed round led by First Bight Ventures and Universal Materials Incubator Co. (UMI).
- **2025** — Announces scaled production of 100% bio-based, high-purity acrylic acid via fermentation; pilot bioreactors produce 10+ kg per run.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Industrial Microbes (2014) and leads it as CEO.
- Built the company's microbial strain-engineering platform, drawing on his LS9 work in directed evolution and metabolic engineering.
- Industrial Microbes holds 20+ patents on bio-based chemical pathways.
- Took the company through Y Combinator (W15).
- Won Alberta's CCEMC Grand Challenge (G-Prize) for gas-to-chemicals technology.
- Raised a $10M+ seed round in 2024 from First Bight Ventures and UMI.
- Scaled 100% bio-based, high-purity acrylic acid production in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Appeared on the Grow Everything Biotech Podcast (episode 113) discussing turning waste into wealth, ethanol's role in biomanufacturing, scaling, and AI in enzyme design.
- **2025-09** — Industrial Microbes announced successful scaled production of 100% bio-based, high-purity acrylic acid through advanced fermentation.
- **2024-11** — Industrial Microbes closed the first tranche of a $10M+ seed round led by First Bight Ventures and UMI.

## Links

- Website: https://imicrobes.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahhelman/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/noah-helman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21