Chemicals from Light: $100M Raised to Decarbonize Industry with Syzygy Plasmonics

Discover how Trevor Best and Syzygy Plasmonics are using LED-powered photocatalysis to electrify chemical production, slash emissions, and reimagine a $5T industry.⭐ My guest today is Trevor Best, Cofounder and CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics.He's also a member of our Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community at Entrepreneurs for Impact!Syzygy is commercializing a deep-decarbonization platform dedicated to cleaning up the emissions-heavy chemical industry. They use breakthrough technology pioneered in the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University to harness energy from LED light to power chemical reactions. This new technology has the potential to partially or fully electrify the chemical industry, shifting it to renewable electricity, and cost-effectively reducing its carbon footprint.🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How he raised over $100M to fund the company- What photocatalysis means- How a case of beer and rare astronomical phenomena were key in deciding the company name- Their work in ammonia cracking, blue hydrogen, and dry reforming- The projects they’re launching this year with multinational companies from Asia and the US- The massive cost, energy, and carbon savings made possible through their technology- What the children’s movie Frozen has taught him- How his love of science fiction translates to lessons in startup leadership- And lots more🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Trevor a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.