Cascade Bio, an industrial biotechnology company based in Denver, has closed $6 million in funding to accelerate the transition from petrochemical processes to enzyme-driven manufacturing. The funding includes a $2.8 million seed round led by Endurance28, with additional backing from Stray Dog Capital, 1Flourish, Range Ventures, 10VC, and Amplify. It is complemented by $3.2 million in nondilutive grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Advancing Cell-Free Systems initiative and a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award.
The company’s core technology, known as Body Armor for Enzymes, uses affordable, scalable materials to protect enzymes from early degradation. While unprotected enzymes can lose activity in a matter of hours under industrial conditions, Cascade Bio’s approach extends their useful lifespan to several months. This dramatic gain in stability promises to lower costs, simplify manufacturing workflows, and unlock new opportunities for biobased production across various sectors, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Since its founding, Cascade Bio has applied its stabilization platform to more than thirty distinct enzymes, achieving a perfect track record of increased durability. Early partnerships with leading chemical, flavor, and fragrance companies, as well as food ingredient and pharmaceutical manufacturers, have demonstrated how these fortified enzymes can be seamlessly integrated into existing processes and yield meaningful cost savings. By removing enzymes from living cells and deploying them in cell-free systems, the company addresses the complexity and expense that have long limited large-scale biomanufacturing.
The broader biomanufacturing industry has attracted significant venture investment; however, many projects still rely on microbial hosts with inherent inefficiencies. Cascade Bio’s cell-free strategy offers an alternative path: rapid reaction rates, more straightforward scale-up, and fewer purification steps. Its founders bring together deep expertise in chemical engineering and real-world experience from institutions like Zymergen, Stanford, and the University of Colorado Boulder, enabling them to design immobilization solutions that work across a wide range of enzyme types.
Investors at Endurance28 highlight that the combination of technical rigor and an ambitious vision positions Cascade Bio to build the foundation for the next generation of industrial biocatalysis. With headquarters in Denver and satellite teams in California and New York, the company is strategically placed to collaborate with manufacturers and expand its impact. Interested parties can learn more by reaching out to the Cascade Bio leadership team via email.
KEY QUOTES:
“Through our early-stage collaborations, we are already seeing the potential impact of our technology. We are seeing enzymes that crash out in hours maintain their activity for months. This order of magnitude improvement in biocatalysis will change the industry by dramatically improving costs and ease-of-use for nature’s catalysts.”
Alex Rosay, CEO and industry veteran
“Alex and James represent the ideal founding partnership that Endurance28 seeks—they are ‘ambitious rebels’ that combine deep scientific expertise with rapid learning and unwavering commitment to their mission. We’re excited to partner with founders whose technical depth and bold vision will build the platform for cell-free biocatalysis that redefines how the world makes chemicals—faster, cleaner, and more sustainable.”
Jared Campbell, senior partner at Endurance28
