Checkerspot, Inc.
Checkerspot designs performance materials at a molecular level by optimizing microbes to biomanufacture unique structural oils produced in nature, but not previously accessible at commercial scale. The company is currently commercializing three materials: a light-weight urethane-based composite (i.e., Algal Core™ ski and snowboard cores) and a cast urethane (i.e., Algal Wall™ sidewalls), both commercialized initially through the brand WNDR® Alpine, as well as algal oil formulated into MiDori® BioWick and sold in partnership with Beyond Surface Technologies to clothing brands worldwide.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Technology
- Industry Type:
- Agriculture
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 2016
Welcome
Designing with Biology. Innovating with Intention.
There’s a better way to make products. That starts with better materials. We empower product designers with knowledge and access to a new breed of performance ingredients and materials that expands the possibilities beyond commodity oils and drives towards a post petroleum future.
Our Purpose
The world needs new materials designed to perform better and are better for the planet.
About Us
We believe innovation is fueled by human spirit and creativity.
Developing better performing products starts with a deep connection with innovators, partners, and customers and is achieved by a relentless commitment to solving real world challenges.
We love what we do and who we do it with.
We are named after the Edith Checkerspot Butterfly, a threatened species living nowhere else in the world except among plants adapted to soils created from serpentine granite unique to the San Francisco Bay Area. The butterfly symbolizes our commitment to the environment and to developing high-performance materials for better products - products that are better for our planet, and better for generations to come.
Platform
We design new molecules for better materials
Working with nature, the Checkerspot WINGTM platform enables the DESIGN–at the molecular level—of new materials.
Our team of scientists engineer microalgae to produce new molecular building blocks, and then we apply chemistry, creating materials with novel physical properties. We BUILD these materials into parts and products that we prototype and TEST.
Our vertically integrated, rapid iteration development process optimizes the time, resources, and footprint it takes to go from innovative ideas to leading products.
MOLECULAR FOUNDRY
Nature has evolved over billions of years to deliver exquisite material building blocks that are unexplored or under-utilized.
We use microbes found in nature that express a diversity of unique and previously untapped molecules to produce the very core building blocks for materials. Our initial focus is on triglyceride oils that we make at scale through biomanufacturing.
CHEMISTRY & MATERIALS SCIENCE
It is through chemistry and materials science that we assemble the novel oils from molecular biology to create bespoke materials that dial in on performance.
By expanding the palette of available building blocks, we can then apply chemistries to create materials with desired physical properties. Our initial focus is on high performance polyurethanes and coatings made from our biobased oils.
FABRICATION
Using these high performance materials, our team of innovators develops prototypes, testing performance and providing instantaneous feedback to the rest of the team and our partners.
DESIGN. BUILD. TEST. REPEAT. This continuous iterative applications development loop demonstrates how biomanufacturing AND chemistry offer us two ways to fine-tune performance advantages in the materials and products we make.
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
We work with our consumers closely, as they are integral to how we iterate and innovate.
From molecules to materials all the way through to finalized consumer products, we have the unique advantage of being involved at every step of the process. We rely on consumer engagement and feedback to continuously improve the performance of our materials and products, to ensure that our customers are ecstatic about their outcomes, and to strengthen our tight-knit community of product users.