Camille Delebecque - Building Synthetic Biology Companies

Dr. Camille Delebecque, M.Sc., PhD is Co-Founder & CEO of Afineur, a company that sustainably processes raw agriculture into plant-based meats and optimizes the flavor profiles of various foods using the latest advances in fermentation & enzymology. He also operates two other companies: (1) SOIL.BIO (Founder & CEO), a startup that aims to develop proprietary mixtures of microbes that enrich the soil with nutrients and improve crop yields and (2) SynBio Consulting (Founder & Partner), where he works with companies, governmental institutions, universities, and investment funds to assist in the deployment of novel biotechnologies. In this episode, Camille shares what it was like to start his first company (Omeecs, a biomanufacturing startup), his experience serving on the Advisory Board of the European Commission, how he managed the turnaround of Microbes Biosciences as their Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and the status of the companies that he currently operates (Afineur, SOIL.BIO, SynBio Consulting). Furthermore, we discuss how he built his technical & business skills during graduate school, the lessons he learned while starting multiple businesses, and emerging applications of synthetic biology in food & agriculture.Hosted by Cynthia Steinhardt and Roshan Chikarmane.