Cambridge origins and a patented enzymatic process
The company was started by Tom Simmons, a Cambridge biochemist who had worked on plant sugars and fibers, and it traded first as Cambridge Glycoscience. Its founding idea was to break down low-value agricultural fiber with enzymes into sugars that behave like table sugar in cooking. Simmons has said he registered a patent on that process while running short of funds, and that patent became the core of the company's intellectual property. Reporting on the founding date varies: some sources give 2017, while its Y Combinator batch was summer 2018.
Y Combinator seed and a $24 million Series A
The company was accepted into Y Combinator and quickly drew seed investment from Felicis and Senkut, who said they became the largest seed investors. In early 2021 it rebranded as Supplant and announced $24 million in venture financing, which the company said would go mainly toward going to market and scaling production. Later reporting described a wider group of backers that included Khosla Ventures, EQT, Coatue and Manta Ray.