biopolymer
(4)
Alafair Biosciences, Inc.
Alafair Biosciences is an Austin, Texas commercial-stage medical device company that makes bioresorbable, plant-based hydrogel implants to protect healing soft tissue after surgery. Built on its patented VersaCore hydrogel technology - a collagen-free, dye-free blend of naturally derived hyaluronic acid and alginate - the company's VersaWrap Hydrogel Sheet and VersaCoat Flowable Hydrogel create a non-constricting gliding interface around tendons, ligaments and peripheral nerves to limit postoperative tethering and help patients regain function. More than 40,000 VersaWrap implants have been used across orthopedic, spine, hand and plastic/reconstructive procedures.
John Joyoprayitno
John Joyoprayitno is the President, CEO, and co-founder of Alafair Biosciences, an Austin-based medical device company building bioresorbable hydrogel implants that protect soft tissue during surgery. A native Austinite who studied anthropology before switching to entrepreneurship, he has built and run ventures ranging from a triathlon bike shop to the custom-car outfit Austin Speed Shop, and now leads a commercial-stage medtech firm best known for its VersaWrap product line. Under his leadership Alafair posted 722% year-over-year growth, and he was named Austin Business Journal's 2024 Best CEO and made Inc.'s 2025 Business Leader of the Year list.
Mango Materials
Mango Materials is a biomanufacturing company that converts waste methane - the same gas that vents from landfills and wastewater plants - into biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) pellets sold under the YOPP brand. The pellets replace conventional plastics in fibers, films, rigid goods, and 3D-printing feedstock, and they fully biodegrade in soil, freshwater, and marine environments.
Molly Morse
Dr. Molly Morse is the CEO and co-founder of Mango Materials, a Vacaville, California-based startup that turns waste methane into biodegradable PHA biopolymers. Founding the company in 2010 on the back of her Stanford PhD research, Morse has spent over a decade building a circular bioeconomy solution that converts a potent greenhouse gas into a commercially viable plastic replacement — branded as YOPP pellets. She has won the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge (2012), the C3E Entrepreneurship Award (2018), and was selected as an Unreasonable Fellow in 2022.