I grew up in Singapore, studied chemical engineering at UC Berkeley, and earned my PhD at Princeton, where the science behind Fermeate was born.
I've spent my career chasing hard problems across chemistry, biology, computation, and hardware. When a problem needs a skill I don't have yet, I go learn it.
What I'm building
Fermeate
Fermeate is an industrial biotech company using light to reprogram biology. By controlling living cells with light, we raise the yield and lower the cost of biomanufacturing and bio-based products. The technology spun out of my PhD research at Princeton, and I lead it as co-founder and CTO.
Backed by SOSV / IndieBio, Newfund, Ajinomoto Group Ventures, Ki Tua Fund, Heuristic Capital, Momentum Capital, Plug and Play, Tesserakt Ventures, Gener8tor, and BEAM Circular.
The range
If it's a hard technical problem, I'll learn it and build it.
- Singapore Where I'm from.
- UC Berkeley B.S. in Chemical Engineering.
- Princeton PhD in Chemical & Biological Engineering. The research that became Fermeate.
- Fermeate Co-founder & CTO. Building it from the science up.
Building a company
Taking the science from the lab to the market.
- Fundraising & investor relations
- Customer development & partnerships
- Technoeconomic modeling & unit economics
- Turning research into IP and product
Cells & bioengineering
Programming what cells make, and how much.
- Strain engineering
- Optogenetics
- Fermentation & bioprocess development
- Enzyme engineering & optimization
Computation
Building with AI and learning from data.
- Leveraging AI for scientific discovery
- Professional Claude Coder
- Machine learning & system identification
- Computational fluid dynamics & reactor modeling
- Mathematical modeling of dynamical systems
Hardware & hands-on
If the science needs a machine, I build it.
- Custom electronics & PCB design
- Welding, soldering, & fabrication
- Building lab and pilot hardware from scratch
Background
Credentials
- Education
- Princeton University · PhD, Chemical & Biological Engineering UC Berkeley · B.S., Chemical Engineering
- Publications
- Google Scholar →
- Talks & panels
- Bioeconomy: Capital, Community & Connections (panelist) · SF Climate Week 2026 Identification with partial information · Machine Learning & Dynamical Systems Seminar Optogenetic Strategies for the Control and Optimization of Microbial Consortia · 3rd Optogenetic Application & Technology Conference Some of the variables, some of the times, some of the parameters, with some things known: Identification with partial information · AIChE 2022 Annual Meeting Initializing the Internal States of LSTM Neural Networks via Manifold Learning · AIChE 2021 Annual Meeting
- Press & awards
- Fermeate raises $2M to deliver a step-change in precision fermentation economics with optogenetics · AgFunderNews Selected for BEAM Circular's 2026 Accelerator · BEAM Circular SOSV / IndieBio SF investment cohort · SOSV
Connect
Let's talk.
The best ways to reach me and find me elsewhere.
© 2026 Saurabh Malani