ExoPolymer, Inc. won the Consider Corn Challenge 2 Contest and has taken its idea one step closer to commercialization. The new partnership with CP Kelco will help the company scale up the production of a new polysaccharide-based polymer. It’s domestically-produced by microbial fermentation using corn sugar as a feedstock.
“We’re thrilled to see a previous Consider Corn Challenge winner, Derek Wells and ExoPolymer, continue to reach key milestones and get closer to commercializing their ideas,” says NCGA Director of Market Development Sarah McKay. “This is our hope for all winners and is the goal of the contest.”
NCGA also says it wants to highlight some of the great research going on using corn as an industrial feedstock, which in turn increases corn demand. If all 15 winners of the Consider Corn Challenges reached full commercialization with products available in the marketplace, that could be an additional 3.4 billion bushels of new corn demand.
