Pyran Receives $3 Million Investment from Kowa to Accelerate Plans for Bio-Based PDO Plant Construction

Pyran has completed its latest round of financing, including a $3 million investment from lead investor Kowa, to continue its progress toward building a world-scale commercial plant for high-performance bio-based diols, 1,5-pentanediol (PDO).

Pyran’s Series B equity financing raised more than $5 million from investors including Kowa and long-term investors such as the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) venture capital arm and Arosa Capital.

“This strong investor support further enhances our ability to scale our technology and complete the necessary steps to begin operating a world-scale commercial plant powered by renewable feedstocks in 2027,” said Kevin Barnett, co-founder and CTO of Pyran.

Mel Luetkens, CEO of Pyran, added: "Kowa's latest investment strengthens our ability to expand our portfolio of high-performance, cost-effective products and technologies. We are pleased that Kowa shares Pyran's vision for the potential of bio-based 1,5 PDO and is contributing the resources required for commercialization."

With this latest round of funding, the renewable chemicals company has completed its REACH registration in Europe, will complete engineering design this month, and has narrowed down the site selection for its commercial plant. Pyran has already validated its technology at demonstration scale and expanded sales of 1,5 PDO to selected pre-approved customers. The company is further looking to scale up its technology through toll manufacturing until a commercial plant is operational in 2027.

“This investment enables us to expand our role in the bio-based specialty chemicals value chain, where we have growing global market access, new product and derivative opportunities that have broad impact in making everyday products more sustainable, and a talented team with whom we have an excellent working relationship,” said Satoshi Hata, president of Kowa Holdings America.