Rise Reforming

Rise Reforming produces cheap green chemical from waste gases, starting with technology that converts biogas waste from farms and wastewater treatment plants into low-carbon industrial chemicals, starting with DME (dimethyl ether), which is used in aerosol propellants and propane blending.

At a Glance

George Rose
Jona van Oord
Lucas Zubillaga

Hard Tech
Climate Tech/Renewables
Energy

About Rise Reforming

Rise Reforming is developing a process to produce cost-competitive, low-carbon dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol from waste biogas. Our objective is to build and own a network of modular chemical plants which we operate at waste biogas sites and sell DME and methanol to industrial users. For wastewater treatment plants and dairy farms, our raw material suppliers, we unlock a major revenue stream by paying for biogas they might otherwise waste. Our process is the cheapest method to produce low-carbon DME and methanol and offers up to 96% lifecycle emissions reduction compared to conventional DME + methanol.

Rise Reforming, headquartered in Chicago, IL, was founded in 2024 by three UChicago molecular engineers and has raised around $630,000 in pre-seed funding from the DOE, UChicago Booth, 776 Foundation, LongJump, and some high profile angel investors.

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