Cascade Bio, an industrial biotech company enabling enzyme-based processes, has secured $6M to accelerate the shift from petrochemicals to biomanufacturing. The funding includes a $2.8M seed round led by Endurance28 with participation from Stray Dog Capital, 1Flourish, Range Ventures, 10VC, and Amplify plus $3.2M in nondilutive funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Advancing Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications (NSF CFIRE) initiative and an SBIR Phase II award. With this investment, Cascade will expand delivery of its breakthrough biocatalysts, giving industrial partners higher performing enzymes that cut costs and unlock biobased production.

Cascade’s technology uses cost-effective materials to keep expensive enzymes lasting significantly longer. So far, Cascade has worked on over 30 different enzymes and is 100% successful at improving stability under tough industrial conditions, including for over 20 paying customers. These early collaborations include some of the world’s largest chemical, flavor and fragrance, food ingredient and pharmaceutical companies helping them incorporate more biology into their manufacturing processes.

The emerging sector of biomanufacturing has raised billions of dollars to transform how molecules are made, but the industry has struggled with costs and scale driven in part by overreliance on microbes – living things with inherent complexity. By moving enzymes out of cells and keeping these catalysts stable, Cascade will enable this high potential industry – inspired by how nature operates – to become a reality.

The company's co-founders, Alex Rosay and James Weltz, bring together chemical engineering backgrounds, industry expertise, and scientific innovation building on lessons learned at Zymergen, Stanford, and CU Boulder.

“Through our early-stage collaborations, we are already seeing the potential impact of our technology,” said Alex Rosay, CEO and industry veteran. “We are seeing enzymes that crash out in hours maintain their activity for months. This order of magnitude improvement in biocatalysis will change the industry by dramatically improving costs and ease-of-use for nature’s catalysts.”

Jared Campbell, senior partner at Endurance28, said, “Alex and James represent the ideal founding partnership that Endurance28 seeks—they are ‘ambitious rebels’ that combine deep scientific expertise with rapid learning and unwavering commitment to their mission. We’re excited to partner with founders whose technical depth and bold vision will build the platform for cell-free biocatalysis that redefines how the world makes chemicals—faster, cleaner, and more sustainable.”

With its headquarters in Denver and a presence in California and New York, Cascade Bio is well-positioned to spearhead the cell-free biomanufacturing revolution