Tim Schnabel

Nitrogen fertilizer-- a cornerstone of our global food chain-- supports the food supply for nearly 3 billion people. Yet, it takes a ton of energy to produce, releases greenhouse gasses, and its runoff is harmful. Tim Schnabel founded Switch Bioworks with a vision to engineer microbes to sustainably produce nitrogen "biofertilizer," directly at the roots of plants. The technology is based on his Ph.D. research at Stanford, where he invented controllable ammonia release from microbes. In under a year, Schnabel and his team have raised $6.6 million and are valued at $27.5 million.