Hyrax Energy, Inc.

Hyrax Energy, Inc. is an advanced bioenergy R&D company and the first spin-out of the U.S. Department of Energy's Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). The company holds exclusive intellectual property enabling ionic liquid-based biorefineries that convert lignocellulosic biomass — such as corn stover, forestry residues, and dedicated energy crops — into concentrated, fermentable sugars at a fraction of the cost and carbon footprint of competing technologies. Ionic liquids are the only known solvents capable of dissolving woody biomass, supporting cellulose breakdown at yields exceeding 90%. Hyrax developed a proprietary separation technology that recovers the ionic liquid solvent at greater than 99.9% efficiency, solving the key commercialization barrier for ionic liquid biorefineries. The resulting clean sugar stream can be fermented into drop-in biofuels, chemicals, and plastics without competing with the food supply. The company received NSF SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards totaling approximately $970,000, with co-founders including Dr. Rodrigo Teixeira and Prof. Ronald Raines of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.