How a Biotech Student Project Brewing Beer Led to a Bioplastics Startup: Alinta Furnell on Spotting Unexpected Opportunities and turn them into a STEM start-up

🎙️ Episode Title:

How a Biotech Student Project Brewing Beer Led to a Bioplastics Startup: Alinta Furnell on Spotting Unexpected Opportunities

💬 Subtitle:

Armed with a biotech degree and a partner-in-crime, Alinta Furnell turned a student side project into Synbiote—a startup tackling sustainability with science

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

• Spark inspiration early: How a biotech degree and a chance lab visit sparked an unexpected founder journey
• Why you should always try something new to set you on unpexpected tracks: Why non-alcoholic beer became a stepping stone to sustainable materials
• Leverage every event to your advantage: How to navigate pivots, branding, and IP issues early in your startup life
• Where to find help: What community, accelerators, and fellowships can do for STEMM entrepreneurs
• Step into your growth mindset: The mindset needed to turn scientific curiosity into commercial innovation

🧠 About the Guest:

Alinta Furnell is the CEO and co-founder of Synbiote, a startup creating high-grade industrial bioplastics. What began as a brewing project during university quickly evolved—after a surprising trademark hiccup—into a company at the intersection of biotech, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. With a background in biotechnology and a diverse range of early roles, Alinta has built a career rooted in exploration, creativity, and action.

📌 Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 The unexpected trademark hurdle that changed everything
• 01:05 Meet Alinta and the founding of Synbiote
• 01:22 Brewing non-alcoholic beer as a biotech student project
• 03:03 Rethinking what biotech really is
• 04:37 Building innovative, sustainable bioplastics
• 07:13 How the beer-to-bioplastics pivot happened
• 14:44 Alinta’s early career, side quests & science exposure
• 33:03 The brewing startup journey (and almost exploding a brewery)
• 34:00 Sales strategy and lean innovation
• 38:29 Brand, IP, and naming lessons
• 41:09 Scaling up production and thinking bigger
• 48:02 Finding support through programs and peers
• 54:53 Personal branding in science and tech
• 59:52 Privilege, access, and systemic barriers
• 01:01:31 Final takeaways

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Synbiote – Alinta’s startup
• Bioplastics overview – Nature article
• Bioplastics & sustainability – NCBI

🤔 Reflection Time:

• What project in your life started small—but might be more than it seems?
• Could your STEMM skills translate into solving real-world sustainability challenges?
• Have you underestimated how powerful community and storytelling can be in a scientific career?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au