Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy: Early precincts reporting Hot 40, Hot 50 votes

In Florida, early voting totals for the 40 Hottest Small Companies and 50 Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy, representing roughly 5% of the overall vote expected, were released today.

The Digest noted some early voting trends.

1. These are “early precincts” reporting — not yet including the 50% of votes from the invited internatinoal selectors, PhotoVotes, and the final 4 weeks of balloting for the Hot 40, and 3 months to go in the Hot 50.

2. In early voting, larger companies have surged this year. Novozymes, DSM, DuPont, BASF and Abengoa in the top 10, Cargill, ADM, POET, Coca-Cola in the next 10 — and companies like Bayer, Dow, Corbion, Boeing, Clariant, Syngenta, Honeywell, and Evonik making appearances in the early voting.

3. We’ve not seen a major drop-off in cellulosic ethanol despite that sector’s delays — voters are still behind technologies such as POET-DSM, Beta Renewables, GranBio, Abengoa, and INEOS Bio.

4. Butanol is having a good early season — Gevo at 14, Butamax at 17 and Green Biologics at 38.

5. Scale increasingly matters. Only LanzaTech and Algenol in the top 20 don’t have a commercial-scale plant running, and they’re both on the verge. Early stagers have generally migrated to the Hot 40.

6. Shock omissions. Where’s biodiesel – the world’s favorite advanced biofuel? Where’s Renewable Energy Group, Aemetis, Pacific Ethanol, Green Plains, Waste Management, Bunge, Sapphire Energy, Iogen, Shell, Raizen, Edeniq, Ceres, Coskata, and Cellana — just to name a few that haven’t attracted the expected levels of support in early voting in the Hot 50.

7. Over in the Hot 40, partnerships matter. MBI (multiple partner-clients), POET (POET-DSM and the POET network), Verdezyne (Sime Darby), Renmatix (UPM, Waste Management), and Liquid Light (Coca-Cola) are companies with brand-name partners and doing well in early voting.

8. Chemicals are especially having success in the Hot 40, where Verdezyne, Liquid Light, Green Biologics, Elevance, Rivertop, Reverdia, and Metabolix are in the top 15. Over in the Hot 50, only Amyris, Genomatica, and BioAmber have cracked the top 15 with a chemicals focus.

9. What about the drones, robotics, and new food companies? With the exception of Impossible Foods, none of these Silicon Valley faves are getting traction in early voting.

Early leaders

Early leaders in the Hot 40 are here.

Early leaders in the Hot 50 are here.