Green Manufacturing
SYNONYM
Evaluate and launch your bioproducts faster
Founded:
2021
Located
New York, United States
We invested
Series A
EARTH-FIRST VISION
Synonym is architecting the physical and digital infrastructure to replace the world’s reliance on petrochemicals and resource-heavy supply chains with sustainable, bio-based manufacturing. Up to 60% of the physical inputs used in the global economy today could be produced biologically. In the U.S. alone, the goal is to produce at least 30% of chemical demand via sustainable biomanufacturing within 20 years
THE PROBLEM
The global bio-economy is projected to reach $200 billion by 2040, but it faces a severe physical infrastructure shortage. Transitioning a biological product from a lab experiment to mass commercial production is incredibly difficult because the industry requires a massive 20-fold capacity expansion, roughly 6,000 new industrial fermenters, to meet demand. For product developers, building a custom factory is overly capital-intensive and slow, while the alternative, finding space in existing contract manufacturing facilities—is an opaque, frustrating process that relies heavily on word-of-mouth
SOLUTIONS
Synonym acts as the essential "utility provider" for the sector, combining high-margin software with physical asset development. Their newly rebranded AI-native software, Roebling, allows companies to accurately model manufacturing costs and facility designs before spending millions. To find immediate capacity, their Match platform functions as an "Airbnb-style" marketplace, connecting developers with over 290 global manufacturing facilities. For long-term capacity, Synonym actively finances and retrofits physical plants, such as the $26M iPROOF joint venture, heavily subsidized by non-dilutive government grants
THEIR DNAs
Unlike traditional biotech startups, Synonym’s DNA is rooted in platform technology and commercial real estate. Co-founders Edward Shenderovich (Knotel) and Joshua Lachter (ASAPP) are serial entrepreneurs applying Silicon Valley scaling playbooks to industrial biology. This non-scientific background is their strategic edge; they focus exclusively on the "picks and shovels" of the industry. Operating with a lean team of about 22 people, their execution-focused culture recently drove a $20.6 million Series A close and elevated Brentan Alexander to CTO to rapidly scale their digital product lines