Alameda, California-based biomanufacturing company Pow.Bio has been named a 2026 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, joining a cohort of 100 companies from 23 countries selected for their work in areas including artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and the bioeconomy.
The Technology Pioneers program, launched in 2000, brings together early-stage companies judged to have potential for broad industry impact. This year’s cohort spans sectors from health and energy to space and AI. Pow.Bio was selected for its AI-enabled continuous fermentation platform, which is designed to lower production costs and accelerate scale-up for bio-based products.
A different approach to fermentation
Founded in 2019 by Shannon Hall and Ouwei Wang, Pow.Bio operates on the premise that conventional batch fermentation is too slow and too expensive to make precision fermentation commercially viable at scale. Its platform decouples microbial growth from production, keeping cells in a productive state continuously rather than cycling through batch runs. According to the company, the approach can deliver significantly higher productivity from existing infrastructure at lower capital cost.
Pow.Bio opened a 25,000-square-foot demonstration facility in Alameda in early 2025, and in December last year announced a partnership with Bühler Group to bring an integrated continuous precision fermentation platform to market, targeting applications from alternative proteins and lipids to enzymes and bioactive compounds.
WEF engagement ahead
As part of the recognition, Pow.Bio will participate in the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, where the company will engage with business, government, and civil society leaders on the future of industrial biomanufacturing.
Shannon Hall, CEO and co-founder of Pow.Bio, stated, “Biology has the potential to transform how the world produces food, materials, and chemicals, but realizing that potential requires manufacturing systems that are reliable, scalable, and economically competitive.”
“We’re honored that the World Economic Forum has recognized the importance of this challenge and the role Pow.Bio is playing in helping solve it.”
