Featured on Forbes 30 Under 30, Jacob has secured over $40 million in funding from top-tier investors like Lowercarbon Capital and Extantia Capital. He is a recognised leader in the circular economy, with Epoch selected for the prestigious Unreasonable Fellow program and featured in publications like TIME, The Financial Times, and The Sunday Times.

Jacob founded Epoch Biodesign to pursue an independent project aimed at discovering microbes capable of breaking down plastic waste, which led to the establishment of the company. Since then, he has pioneered the development and commercialisation of proprietary enzyme recycling technology, which uses AI to engineer biological solutions to break down complex plastic and blended textile waste into virgin-grade chemical building blocks.

He has successfully led the company's commercial strategy and fundraising efforts, closing over $40M in funding, including a $18.3M Series A round. Key investors include Lowercarbon Capital, Extantia Capital, and a strategic investment from Mundi Ventures (Inditex). He has also established 40 active partnerships across the global fashion, performance apparel, and automotive industries, delivering textile-to-textile circularity at scale. Under his leadership, the company grew from its roots to a deep-tech enterprise with a multidisciplinary team of 45 world-class scientists and engineers.

Jacob is a keynote speaker, presenting on the convergence of AI, synthetic biology, and circularity at New York Climate Week and other major technology and sustainability conferences. In collaboration with R&D leadership, Jacob helps to direct the science strategy of the business and particularly enjoys working to close the loop between the customer and Epoch’s R&D team.

Beatriz is an accomplished international People / Human Resources professional with extensive experience within European and APAC territories. Having acquired significant exposure to a variety of industries ranging from non-profits to multi-national corporations, Beatriz effectively leads our People Function. She enhances its visibility and profile through a pragmatic, knowledgeable and straightforward approach to People.

Before Epoch, Beatriz led the scale-up of a London-based insurtech business from 45 to 400 people, operating across two regions and culminating in a successful acquisition of >$320M in 2017. Additionally, Beatriz enabled the expansion of one of the largest Japanese corporations’ European operations across six countries within six months (SoftBank Robotics).

Beatriz thrives in start-up, mid-sized, and scale-up environments. High growth/fast-moving/stimulating settings where her critical thinking abilities and curiosity are necessary to make significant contributions to the company’s growth. Her entrepreneurial mentality enables her to understand and anticipate the needs of businesses, having started her own in her home country of Spain before moving to London.

Preferring collaborative problem-solving over unilateral decision-making, Beatriz encourages lively discussions, loves a debate, and has a remarkable tendency to challenge conventional/rigid/herd mindsets and box-ticking exercises. She advocates uncomplicated, helpful, achievable processes that drive real business value.

A highly accomplished commercial leader with over 20 years of experience, Luciano specialises in scaling global teams to commercialise new material technologies, particularly in areas like Materials, Recycling, and Bio Monomers. His expertise is rooted in key executive roles at industry giants, including General Manager at LG Chem America and Vice President of Sales at AkzoNobel.

Luciano has a proven track record in high-stakes strategy and negotiation, which is vital for Epoch's growth. As General Manager at LG Chem America, he directly negotiated investment, Joint Development Agreements, Joint Ventures, and offtake agreements with startups focused on commercialising disruptive technologies. This experience directly informs Epoch's strategy for securing significant partnerships and capital. During his 12 years at AkzoNobel, he maximised revenue by leading large multi-tier teams and negotiating global deals with large Oil & Gas and Marine customers across Europe, Asia, and North America, holding full accountability for regional P&L, sales pipeline, and strategy. Additionally, as Vice President of Sales at Zep Inc., he led the strategy and implementation of a commercial restructure that resulted in a successful exit for the Private Equity-backed company.

Luciano leverages this comprehensive, global background to define high-impact commercial strategies, accelerate the market adoption of Epoch's enzyme recycling technology, and forge the strategic partnerships needed to deliver textile-to-textile circularity at scale

Jerry Grunewald is one of the world’s leading experts on plastics and plastics industrialisation, joining Epoch as a Senior Advisor to accelerate the global scale-up of its bio-recycling technology.

He brings four decades of expertise, having held multiple leadership roles over a 36-year career spanning INVISTA (the world's largest Nylon 6,6 producer) and DuPont. His tenure included executive roles in R&D, Technology, and Operations, leading teams across all of INVISTA's 13 global operating sites.

His industrial experience is crucial to Epoch's growth, particularly in scale-up and Nylon 6,6 circularity. Grunewald notably led the construction, setup, and commissioning of INVISTA's world-scale, fully integrated Nylon 6,6 production facility in Shanghai, China, which has a capacity exceeding 400,000 tonnes per year. This experience directly informs Epoch's strategy for building its first commercial plant and delivering true textile-to-textile circularity at scale.

Grunewald’s technical expertise includes a strong background in polymer chemistry and industrial-scale manufacturing, including a focus on innovation that benefits both customers and the planet, having led a major R&D project to virtually eliminate a hazardous chemical from the Nylon 6,6 production process at INVISTA.

His appointment is seen as a key validation of Epoch’s enzymatic approach to recycling, which breaks down complex waste textiles and plastics at room temperature into virgin-quality chemical building blocks. Grunewald holds a Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry from the University of Florida, an undergraduate degree from La Salle University, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Master Black Belt.

Ben is a highly accomplished and innovative C-suite executive with a strong background in chemical engineering and global industry experience. As a Chartered Chemical Engineer, he has worked for companies like GlaxoSmithKline and CHEP, delivering exceptional results in process and product development, engineering delivery, and marketing. 

With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University and extensive knowledge in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and operational excellence techniques, Ben possesses a solid foundation in technical expertise. He has consistently demonstrated his ability to analyse complex information, identify solutions, and drive continuous improvement.

He has designed and scaled end-to-end processes countless times, from laboratory experimentation to pilot-scale implementation, and ultimately, to commercial production including scaling Multi-Kta production capacity at a company upcycling waste coffee grounds. His approach involves a meticulous analysis of each stage, ensuring that the transition is not only efficient but also cost-effective.

Ben's leadership skills shine through his track record of successfully managing cross-functional teams, collaborating with stakeholders, and aligning purpose and vision. He excels in new technology development, commercial collaboration, and project management, showcasing his strong communication and influencing abilities. He is a health and safety champion and an excellent coach and mentor, dedicated to achieving excellence in every aspect of his work. At Epoch, he leads on all things process, including TEA modelling, LCA analysis and end-to-end process design and delivery.

Angela, is an experienced molecular biologist and lab manager, with >10 years’ experience at the cutting edge of biotech research, and holds a degree in Biology and a biology Ph.D. 

Throughout her career, she spearheaded cutting-edge molecular biology research in prestigious institutions across the UK and Finland, consistently earning awards for her outstanding work. 

Angela works to manage our lab and R&D operations and spearheads efficiency initiative enabling us to move fast as we develop our processes. Angela is responsible for R&D project delivery and management at Epoch, and has built, from the ground up, a unique R&D project structure, enabling us to carry out a multitude of complex R&D pursuits in parallel. Angela excels at taking the creativity of scientific minds and helping them create structure and order to their projects in order to meet the company’s strategic goals.

Martin brings over a decade of deep expertise at the intersection of enzyme engineering, bioinformatics, directed evolution, and machine learning. His academic foundation is world-class, including an MSc in molecular biology, a PhD in plant biochemistry from the prestigious Max Planck Institute in Germany, and critical postdoctoral studies in directed evolution at Caltech under Nobel Laureate Prof. Frances Arnold.

Following his academic training, Martin built a diverse career bridging top-tier research and industrial application. He held a position as an Assistant Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, where he led an active research group and earned the academic distinction of Docent in Computational Biology. On the industrial front, Martin held roles at BASF in Belgium and most recently led the computational enzyme design team at a leading enzyme-based chemistry startup in Sweden, where he was responsible for integrating advanced bioinformatics and ML workflows to drive novel biocatalyst discovery.

At Epoch, Martin is responsible for directing and scaling our computational biology strategy. He focuses on leveraging his comprehensive experience to connect high-throughput screening data with bespoke machine learning models, accelerating the discovery and optimisation of enzyme performance. His combined background in evolutionary biochemistry, large-scale data analysis, and industrial enzyme applications provides the critical leadership needed to build Epoch’s proprietary computational engine.

Dimitri is an accomplished chemistry leader with a deep commitment to replacing traditional, petroleum-based industries with sustainable alternatives, spanning over 12 years of experience taking R&D initiatives from concept to industrial scale. As the Head of Chemistry at Epoch Biodesign, he spearheads the crucial chemical processes that surround the enzymatic breakdown of plastic. His role is focused on the end of life of plastic, managing everything from the essential pre-processing of complex plastic waste (a significant challenge in diverse feedstocks like fabrics) to the final downstream purification steps that isolate high-purity monomers for true circularity. He is a pivotal force in the process design for Epoch’s demo and future large-scale commercial plants, while also managing the quality of commercial samples.

Dimitri’s career is defined by successfully developing scalable, first-of-their-kind processes. Originally from France, he holds a Master's (Diplôme d’ingénieur) in Chemistry and Process Engineering from CPE Lyon, and completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Florida and a postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps Research Institute. Before Epoch, he spent 12 years at the sustainable chemical startup Origin Materials (Micromidas), where he rose to Director of Chemistry after joining the company when it had only twelve employees. During this tenure, he developed the patented process for converting waste biomass (wood, cardboard) into a furan platform for sustainable materials, resulting in the successful approval of nine patents for processes and compositions of matter. His process for converting biomass to 2,5-chloromethylfurfural (CMF) was implemented at the world’s first demonstration plant, capable of processing an estimated 25,000 dry metric tons of biomass per year, and he notably designed a process for aqueous phase recycling at a planned 1000 KTA chemical plant, reducing capital expenditure (capex) by over $100M.

His leadership is characterized by a structured, high-trust, and solutions-oriented approach. Dimitri builds trust by maintaining a clear vision, championing his team members' development, and fostering an environment where individuals feel safe to grow. He prioritizes honest, constructive feedback that focuses on facts and actions, ensuring continuous improvement while building a strong rapport and mutual respect.

Elena is a globally recognised leader in strain engineering, molecular biology, and synthetic biology, bringing over 20 years of experience from both pioneering academic institutions and high-growth industry settings. She leads Epoch’s strain engineering activities.

Elena’s career is marked by significant industrial applications. As a Senior Scientist at Mascoma Corporation, she engineered the first GMO yeast strain approved in America for use in corn ethanol production (TransFerm®). She also played a pivotal role at GlycoFi (later acquired by Merck for $400M).

Her deep expertise in scaling biotech operations was honed during her six years at Ginkgo Bioworks, where she joined as employee No. 70 and rose to become a Program Director and Principal Organism Engineer. Before joining Epoch, she served as the VP of Metabolic Engineering at Conagen.

Following her PhD in Russia, Elena completed postdoctoral research at prestigious U.S. institutions, including Stanford and UCSD. Her extensive background provides the critical leadership needed to direct and optimise the biological machinery at the heart of Epoch’s enzyme recycling technology.

Rachel is a research scientist with  over 20 years’ experience working with, engineering and studying enzymes. She holds a PhD from Oxford University, and has spent time at companies like Syngenta, and led collaborative projects with the likes of BASF, AstraZeneca and Firmenich. 

For the last 10 years her career has focussed on assay development and enzyme engineering for biocatalysis applications and has developed a unique breadth of experience across the entire enzyme engineering technology stack and life cycle. Her work has consistently led to orders of magnitude improvements in enzyme performance as well as successfully redesigning enzymes to perform entirely novel functions.

At Epoch, Rachel leads our assay development and enzyme screening capabilities, developing unique and large scale capabilities to generate proprietary data for ML applications.