Rise Reforming
Rise Reforming is a YC Summer 2026 (S26) company. Based in Chicago, IL, USA. Team of 4.
About Rise Reforming
Summary
Rise Reforming converts waste biogas into chemicals on-site at the facilities that produce it, replacing centralized, fossil-fuel-dependent supply chains. Its modular process targets dimethyl ether for aerosol and fuel applications first, then methanol for industrial use and low-carbon shipping. The pilot, running at a Chicagoland wastewater plant, is the first biogas-to-methanol demonstration of its kind in the Americas.
Go-to-market
Wastewater treatment plants and other biogas-producing industrial sites are the initial customers, reached through on-site pilot projects that demonstrate chemical output and supply security directly at the source.
From the Y Combinator listing
We turn waste gases into valuable supply-secure chemicals
Geopolitical conflicts and natural disasters frequently expose the vulnerability of the American chemical industry. The reason? Production is centralized and fossil fuel-dependent. The solution? Localized production using an undervalued resource: biogas. The US produces enough biogas to make over $20 bn/y worth of chemicals, but 60% is wasted in low-margin applications or flared altogether. Rise Reforming is commercializing a modular process to transform this underutilized biogas on-site into cheap, supply-secure chemicals. Our beachhead market is dimethyl ether (DME), used as an aerosol propellant and a low-carbon fuel additive in propane. Our target market is methanol: an established billion $ chemical and the future of low-carbon shipping. We're doing our pilot project at a Chicagoland wastewater plant. This will be the first wastewater biogas-to-methanol demo in the Americas. We're hiring for a senior chemical process engineer. Apply here: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rise-reforming/jobs/wJ9Q9nv-senior-chemical-process-engineer
Facts
- Industrials / Industrials -> Climate
- Chicago, IL, USA
- 4
- Active
- Early
Founders (3)
- George Rose
- Jona van Oord
- Lucas Zubillaga
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