Neela Biotech Raises £2.1M for Waste-to-Jet Fuel
Neela Biotech has raised £2.1M to pilot an AI-guided microbial process that turns waste into sustainable aviation fuel feedstock.
Sustainable aviation fuel faces a basic supply problem: there are not enough suitable waste oils and fats to meet future demand.
What happened
Neela Biotech raised £2.1 million in pre-seed funding to move its waste-to-fuel technology into pilot-scale trials.
The company uses an AI-guided microbial process to convert food, agricultural and forestry waste into fatty-acid feedstocks compatible with established sustainable aviation fuel production.
Why it matters
Most current HEFA sustainable fuel depends on limited supplies of waste oils and fats.
Creating similar feedstocks from more abundant waste streams could expand production without requiring an entirely new refining system.
The next challenge is proving that the biological process works economically at industrial scale.
The bigger picture
The aviation sector needs both new fuel pathways and more feedstock for existing ones.
Neela is pursuing the second route.
If its process can plug into existing infrastructure, it may offer a faster commercial pathway than technologies that require completely new fuel-production facilities.