nitrogen-fixation
(3)
Windfall Bio and the Microbes That Outlived the Business
Windfall Bio put methane-eating microbes to work making organic fertilizer. Its trials delivered promising results; its equipment reached the auction block in 2026.
Kula Bio
Kula Bio is a Massachusetts climate-tech company turning naturally occurring nitrogen-fixing microbes into living fertilizer factories that run inside the soil. Born from Harvard chemist Dan Nocera's 'bionic leaf' research, the company supercharges Xanthobacter autotrophicus with a renewable-energy carbon source so the bacteria deliver plant-available nitrogen at the root zone, on demand. Field trials show its flagship Kula-N can replace as much as 80% of a farm's synthetic nitrogen use without the runoff or the fossil-fuel footprint of conventional fertilizer.
Pivot Bio
Pivot Bio engineers nitrogen-fixing microbes that live on crop roots and feed corn, wheat, sorghum and small grains directly, replacing a portion of synthetic fertilizer with a biological alternative that does not volatilize into the atmosphere or leach into groundwater.