What do Aviation and Synthetic Biology have in Common? The Journey of Neela Biotech
Written by Deepanshu Singh and Friederike Nintzel
The Decarbonisation Challenge of Aviation and a Nature-Inspired Solution
Aviation is the most emissions-intensive mode of transport, producing up to 50x more emissions than trains and 5x more than cars. Unlike the automotive sector, electrification is not a viable option, especially for long-distance flights, because batteries have 50x lower energy density compared to jet fuel and are, therefore, too heavy for an aircraft.
With an average aircraft lifetime of 25 years, aircrafts produced today will be in service until 2050, effectively locking in today’s technologies for decades to come. Hence, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is the most viable decarbonisation solution that works with existing aircraft and airport infrastructure. Airlines around the globe have set net-zero targets and have already committed to large volumes of SAF usage. Governments are also stepping in and have implemented regulations that mandate SAF adoption. Yet, SAF currently represents less than 1% of the world’s total jet fuel usage. Most current SAF pathways are struggling to scale up due to high energy and capital costs.
At the core of this problem is a fundamental inefficiency: current SAF pathways break down complex feedstocks into simple molecules, the so-called “syngas”, only to rebuild them back into complex hydrocarbons, the jet fuel. This is an extremely energy- and cost-inefficient route.
That’s why we founded Neela Biotech.
At Neela Biotech, we aim to overcome the energy and cost challenge with a nature-inspired solution that bypasses the energy-intensive steps of conventional SAF production. Our novel Controlled Microbial Upcycling (CMU) process leverages advances in AI and synthetic biology to unlock scalable, carbon-negative jet fuel production at low cost. Unlike typical biofuels that compete with food production, Neela’s process works with a variety of waste streams like agricultural residues, food waste, and seaweed as feedstocks.
We believe that what aviation really needs are technologies that can scale quickly, without reinventing the wheel. We build upon a proven biogas production technology and enhance it with synthetic biology and AI-driven bioprocess design. This lets us leverage existing biogas and refinery infrastructure, reduce capital costs, and scale faster than other approaches.
Neela Biotech winning in the UK finals of the Climate Launchpad at the Bank of America, London. The team is now representing the UK in the EU finals.
Meet the Founders, Share the Journey: Bridging Aerospace and Synthetic Biology through Neela Biotech
We met in Cambridge through our shared passion for sustainability and climate tech, bringing a rare interdisciplinary edge of aviation and synthetic biology to the SAF challenge.
Aviation is currently responsible for 8% of the UK’s total emissions. Globally, the demand for air travel is soaring, driven by a rising middle class in Asia-Pacific and other developing nations. At its current trajectory, aviation will be responsible for 25% of global emissions by 2050. Slowing this demand is not a solution as it would limit economic growth and climate justice for emerging economies.
Through our scalable and low-cost carbon-negative fuel solution, we want to address this growing demand for air travel whilst promoting sustainability and a bio-based economy. Moreover, the widespread availability of waste streams globally means nations around the world can produce jet fuel locally using our technology, boosting energy security and resilience across regions.
With this motivation in place, we’ve enjoyed and learnt from the success we’ve had so far. In February 2025, we joined the SYNC accelerator run by Founders at the University of Cambridge and were spurred on to conduct extensive customer validation, market research, techno-economic assessments, and numerous iterations of our technical approach. This has included speaking to over 80 experts in the SAF value chain including feedstock suppliers, airlines, SAF off-takers, and certification bodies.
Later in the year, we pitched our idea and won the first prize at the 2025 Climate Challenge organised Cambridge Zero, King’s E-Lab and Carbon13 among multiple other partners and hosted at King’s College. The whole Climate Challenge, which included insightful weekly sessions led by exceptional speakers, was an incredible learning experience.
We were then thrilled to be selected from among 2,733 start-ups worldwide in the Climate Launchpad competition. We won the second place in the UK finals hosted by Imperial College London at the Bank of America and have now advanced to the EU finals of this international competition. Recently, we were selected as a grand finalist in the 12th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business competition, with a fully-funded trip to Singapore at the end of September for a week of pitching and networking.
Finally, our team had a major breakthrough when we got selected for the IAG Innovation Accelerator, validating the commercial potential of our novel approach. IAG is the parent company of airlines including British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Vueling. As part of this accelerator, we are learning about fuel supply chains, airline SAF strategies, SAF certification, mandates, and off-take agreements.
Neela Biotech winning the first prize in the 2025 Climate Challenge at King’s College, Cambridge.
The Road Ahead: Powering the Future of Flight with Carbon-negative Fuels
Our successes so far have inspired us to continue to advance our solution and, as a final boost, one of Neela Biotech’s recent achievement was securing a six-figure, non-dilutive grant awarded by the Henry Royce Institute to advance the development of our MVP. Building on this support, we are now raising our first funding round and are keen to engage with vision-aligned investors.
We are looking forward to taking this momentum into our participation in the SPARK Incubator Programme, designed and run by the King’s E-Lab and Founders at the University of Cambridge. We are excited by the prospect of gaining access to a vibrant network of experts, mentors, and investors and continuing to be inspired by the dynamic ecosystem that Cambridge provides for founders. SPARK’s tailored support for early-stage ventures will help us refine our business model and will accelerate our go-to-market strategy, and for this, we are eager to get started!
Deepanshu Singh holds a PhD in aerospace from Oxford and brings a decade of aviation experience, having worked with airlines, policymakers, and companies like Rolls-Royce. He previously led fundraising for a climate tech start-up and currently serves as the business development lead of Cambridge’s Aviation Impact Accelerator.
Friederike Nintzel is a final-year Marie Curie PhD fellow in synthetic biology and specialises in AI-driven enzyme engineering. She has developed bioproduction tools at leading European institutions, gained hands-on SAF production experience at SkyNRG and brings commercial experience from roles in corporate sustainability and venture capital.