Catalyzing sustainability in chemical processes.
Låkril Technologies catalyzes sustainability in chemical processes through sales of acrylics and licensing of related catalyst and process technology. We provide competitive alternatives to high volume petrochemicals to help decrease the world's CO₂ intensity. Our revolutionary catalyst technology for catalytic dehydration of α-hydroxy acids allows the supply of sustainable, bio-based acrylic acid and acrylate derivatives as drop-in replacements to the paints, coatings, adhesives, and superabsorbents industries at cost parity.
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Christopher P. Nicholas
FOUNDING PARTNER
Chris brings 25 years of experience in developing and scaling catalysts, catalytic processes, and process engineering in the refining industry, and is now applying that skill set to renewable chemicals.
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Paul J. Dauenhauer
FOUNDING PARTNER
An upper Midwesterner at heart, Paul is a chemical engineer developing new technologies for converting biomass into the chemical building blocks needed for daily life. He is a serial entrepreneur with two additional successful start-ups.
Our Mission
Låkril Technologies will bring sustainability to high volume chemical production beginning with processes for bio-based acrylic acid / acrylates.
Starting with a foundation in catalysis, we couple the deep knowledge and rigor of academics with the drive of business commercialization. We value technical competence while building a collaborative culture for our competitive success, with a focus on establishing research and development programs that work to scale technology related to our bio-derived chemicals.
Our History
Låkril Technologies was incorporated in 2021 to commercialize technology spinning out of the University of Minnesota. Since 2022, we’ve been headquartered in Chicago on the Near West Side. In our R&D facility, we are scaling the Låkril Amber Process technology to enable production of bio-based, sustainable acrylic acid at about 50,000 metric ton per year size.
News and Updates
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a $3.9 million federal investment for 13 projects that will tap into the DOE National Laboratories’ world-class high performance computing (HPC) resources to connect with industry partners.
In this audio interview, Jared White from Brownfield Ag speaks with Chris Nicholas, president and co-founder of Lakril Tech, about an exciting innovation: turning corn into sustainable acrylics. You'll hear how Lakril is using bio-based sugars, derived from corn, to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of everyday products like paints, coatings, and even diapers.
