April 4, 2024 • 19 mins
Our guest is Jessica Tittl Nielsen, co-founder of Cordelia Biosciences which is developing ocean-safe chemicals for use in various industries, including cosmetics and personal care products. They're also developing a novel manufacturing process which requires no petrochemicals.
Cordelia is a rising star in the Gainesville startup community - and we do mean that literally. They won the Rising Star Start-up Award last year. Here's my conversation with co-founder Jessica Tittl-Nielsen.
Resources:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cordeliabio/
https://cordeliabio.com/
Jessica's LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicatittl/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lori Ann Santamaria (00:00):
Welcome to Sustainable North Florida.
I'm your host, Lori AnnSantamaria.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (00:06):
So every chemical that we create is
tested to ensure that it iscoral safe and safe for the
ocean, safe for you, safe forour environment as a whole.
Lori Ann Santamaria (00:20):
Welcome to today's show.
Our guest is the co-founder ofa company developing ocean-safe
chemicals for use in variousindustries, including cosmetics
and consumer products.
First, some good news for you.
Demand for the oil used incombustible fuels is projected
to peak in 2028.
However, one segment of the oilmarket, the petrochemical
(00:41):
industry, is set to growsignificantly over that same
time period.
There are really quite a fewnuances to consider here.
Petrochemicals are present inmany products that will be hard
for us to wean off of.
They're used in everything fromthe blades of wind turbines to
pharmaceuticals.
At the same time, though, therefining and petrochemical
industries in the US emit theequivalent of 100 coal-fired
(01:05):
power plants each year, andcommunities near refineries
suffer from higher rates ofcancer compared to the general
population.
Enter Cordelia Biosciences.
In addition to creatingmarine-safe products, they're
developing a novel process whichrequires no petrochemicals.
Cordelia is a rising star inthe Gainesville startup
community, and I do mean thatliterally.
(01:27):
They won the Rising StarsStartup Award last year.
Here's my conversation withco-founder Jessica
Tittle-Nielsen Hi, jessica,welcome to Sustainable North
Florida.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (01:39):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Lori Ann Santamaria (01:40):
We've asked you here today to tell us about
Cordelia Biosciences, which isa company that you co-founded.
But first, if you could juststart off by giving us a little
bit about your background,
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (01:55):
I am a marine biologist here at the
University of Florida.
I'm in my PhD program here andI study coral conservation.
But prior to that, I worked atGojo Industries as a new
(02:16):
technology scientist, where Igot to experience a lot of the
chemical industry and productindustry side.
But the two of those combinedis really what made me start my
company with CordeliaBiosciences, along with my
co-founder, monica Scholl.
Lori Ann Santamaria (02:29):
How did you come up with the initial
concept for your company and howdid you grow it into what it is
today?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (02:35):
Well, actually the company started out
.
I had this idea that I wouldcreate a consulting company to
help other companies createsustainable products using
biomimicry and looking to nature.
But when my co-founder came onboard and said she was
interested in joining me, westarted to talk about it and
(02:59):
realized you know, why?
Just show other people how todo this?
Why not just do it ourselves?
And we decided that we reallylove corals.
We think that coral microbes arejust the coolest thing in the
entire world.
They are able to create someabsolutely incredible chemicals
(03:22):
and we knew that there was anopportunity there.
So that's where we were inJanuary of 2023, was really just
this concept of coral are cooland so are their microbes.
I'm sure we can make a company,and from that we have built out
the entire model of CordeliaBiosciences and started our R&D
(03:45):
to create sustainable chemicalsfrom coral bacteria.
So really, the two of us comingtogether, we have very
complementary skill sets andreally just create the perfect
storm of founders to help bringthis idea into life, and we were
(04:05):
very excited about where it'sgoing from here.
Lori Ann Santamaria (04:08):
Can you tell me a little bit more about
those complementary skill sets?
Jessica Tittl Nielse (04:11):
Absolutely .
Monica came on board and she'sour chief science officer.
Monica is incredible in the lab.
She is probably one of thesmartest people I've ever met
and really has all the skillsneeded to go from bacteria to
chemical.
I, on the other hand, I'm alsoa scientist by nature and at
(04:35):
heart, but my passion reallylies in the business side and
how you bring technology tomarket.
And combining her coreunderstanding of the science and
her ability to get thesebacteria to create the chemicals
and my abilities to find theplaces for these chemicals
within the market and build thebusiness around it, we've become
(04:56):
a great team where we've reallymerged science and business in
what I think is a really greatway for a biotech company
starting out like us.
Lori Ann Santamaria (05:06):
That sounds like a really cool partnership
and with that you've been ableto go from the back of the
napkin idea that we were justtalking about earlier to being a
rising star.
Can you tell us about that?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (05:16):
Yeah, we were really excited to find that
StartGNV actually picked us asthe Gainesville Rising Star
startup for 2023.
And that was just a really greathonor to show all the great
things that we've done in 2023.
Going from, like you said, theback of the napkin, we have an
(05:39):
idea and we think it's cool toopening our lab in October at UF
Innovate over at St Martin inAlachua and actually starting to
create our products so that wecan bring them to market.
What sparked your interest inmarine science?
Oh gosh, I was interested inmarine biology from a really
(06:00):
young age, even though Iactually grew up in Ohio, so I'm
from Cleveland and the oceanand study the ocean and have
(06:24):
really been working ondeveloping a career that allows
me to do that and to do good forthe seas, because the oceans
impact every aspect of our livesand everything that we do,
whether we are on the coast orin the center of the country,
(06:44):
can have an impact on the oceanas well.
So it's just so important thatwe understand it and care about
it and help protect it.
Lori Ann Santamaria (06:53):
So the ocean is vast and there are a
lot of different things that wecan study about the ocean.
What is the specific problemthat you guys are trying?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (07:01):
to address.
At Cordelia Biosciences.
Our big problem that we'retrying to address is chemical
pollution and also unsustainablechemical manufacturing
practices, so it's kind of atwo-part problem.
The first is that everythingthat you use in your daily life
(07:21):
you know, the soap that you washdown the drain, the lotion you
put on your face, the productsthat you consume and use all the
time everything that you useends up back in the environment.
And so my co-founder and Idecided that we really wanted to
come up with a way that we cancreate the ingredients for the
(07:43):
products that you use that whenthey come back to the
environment, they aresustainable and do no harm.
So every chemical that wecreate is tested to ensure that
it is coral safe and safe forthe ocean, safe for you, safe
for our environment as a whole.
We do this because everythingthat you use ends up.
(08:07):
You know all drains lead to thesea.
The other aspect issustainability in regards to
manufacturing.
So right now, all of theingredients in your product when
you pick up your lotion, all ofthe ingredients in your product
when you pick up your lotion,the majority of the ingredients
in there either come frompetroleum or plants, and I think
we all kind of know the issueswith petroleum at this point, so
(08:30):
I don't really have to go intothose.
But plant-based is also notreally sustainable for the
environment.
You have issues with cuttingdown the rainforest and then
just the transportation of thoseplant products across the world
to be processed into thechemicals for your product.
(08:50):
So our goal is to manufacturefrom bacteria, and these
bacteria can be sent in a tinyvial in the mail where we can
then grow them up andsustainably manufacture our
chemical ingredients.
Lori Ann Santamaria (09:06):
Once you have the bacteria, what are the
manufacturing ingredients thatyou have going into it?
Everything else is sustainableonce you have the bacteria.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (09:12):
Yeah.
So what's really cool is withthe bacteria.
You basically just have to feedit.
So our bacteria we use a youknow seawater and nutrient froth
that they grow in and you knowit has sugars and things like
(09:34):
that that help them grow, andthe bacteria act like these tiny
little biomanufacturers andthey pump out the chemicals for
us and then we just separate outthe chemicals from the broth or
the bacteria themselves andthat's what we are able to sell
into the market.
Lori Ann Santamaria (09:54):
Are you launching with a specific
product first, or do you havemultiple products that you're
working on right now?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (09:59):
So our first product market is a
preservative ingredient and weare working on the MVP for that
product right now and thatpreservative ingredient we will
sell into the cosmetics andpersonal care market first.
However, it can go into foodmarkets and areas like that.
(10:19):
But we're not just a singularingredient company.
We are building out a chemicalcompany overall.
So over time we will be addingadditional chemicals to our
portfolio.
We're looking at some of ourbacteria can create anti-aging
(10:41):
and sun care ingredients andsurfactant ingredients all
chemicals that we use in ourdaily life.
Lori Ann Santamaria (10:49):
Would you be licensing this technology or
would you be actuallymanufacturing and selling the
bacteria or the product that's?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (10:54):
a great question.
So it really depends on thechemical.
If the chemical is one that wehave the expertise and it makes
sense for us to scale, then wewill go ahead and scale it and
sell it ourselves.
However, we've already startedtalking to some larger chemical
companies that are interested inour technology and in that
(11:18):
instance we would consider alicensing or even co-development
project with them.
Lori Ann Santamaria (11:24):
Okay, and I have heard both chemical and
bacteria.
So what is the product?
The product is chemical.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (11:32):
So to explain a little bit more
clearly, you can think of thebacteria as the manufacturer.
So that's replacing yourtypical chemical manufacturing.
So we would be usingbiomanufacturing techniques.
So the bacteria creates thechemical and we just take that
(11:54):
chemical right from nature andcan use it in our product.
Lori Ann Santamaria (11:57):
What testing would be required in
order to get this into themarket?
Is there any type of regulatoryprocess or certification that
you guys will need?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (12:04):
to go through.
So for the cosmetics market, no, there's no specific regulatory
process that we have to gothrough.
We have our own personaltesting that we will be doing,
of course, to make sure that thechemical is safe and effective
and used for people.
But we are also very passionateabout ensuring that every
(12:27):
chemical that we create is safefor the environment, and so we
are developing a coral safetesting method to ensure that we
can stand behind when we saythat our chemicals will not harm
the coral reefs, because whywould we create chemicals that
hurt the environment that we'retrying to save?
(12:49):
So our testing method will testdirectly on corals and ensure
that none of our chemicals harmthem.
Lori Ann Santamaria (12:57):
So that's really interesting because I've
definitely seen on the market,like sunscreens, for example,
that say that they're reef safe.
There's not an industrystandard test that is done.
You have to create your own.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (13:06):
Correct.
In fact, there's no realindustry standard around reef
safe at all, and that's one ofthe things that, at Cordelia, we
would really like to change,because right now, every product
that you see out there thatsays reef safe, that's typically
because it does not have a fewkey ingredients that we know
(13:29):
harm the coral reefs, but thatdoesn't mean that the other
ingredients in the productsaren't harming the reefs.
So we think it's reallyimportant to test everything in
the products that we use to makesure that they're safe when
they go out into our environment.
Lori Ann Santamaria (13:46):
It seems like you're developing this
company very intentionally witha holistic approach.
Are you guys looking at gettinga B Corp certification by any
chance?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (13:54):
Yes, we are.
We have started talking aboutgetting our B-Core certification
.
So we'll be doing that probablywithin this next spring
timeframe.
Lori Ann Santamaria (14:03):
Jessica, I believe your company started in
the Gator Hatchery.
Can you tell us about that?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (14:19):
students at the University of Florida,
and when we decided that wewanted to start a company, we
applied for what they call theBig Idea Competition here at UF,
and that led us over to theGator Hatchery, which is an
incredible resource that anyuniversity student at UF can use
, where the business professorswill help you figure out how to
(14:41):
build your company.
So they've provided mentorshipfor us.
Resources have helped send usto competitions everything we've
needed to go from an idea to afull-blown company actually
creating products.
Lori Ann Santamaria (15:00):
As a young company, that usually involves
pitch competitions and thingslike that.
Can you tell us what you guyshave done on that front?
Jessica Tittl Nielse (15:06):
Absolutely so we've done quite a few pitch
competitions over 2023.
We went to the Rice BusinessPlan competition where we got a
$20,000 investment prize, and wealso placed second in the UFAI
days.
Part of our development processactually utilizes AI to look
(15:33):
into the genomes of the bacteriaand try to predict which
bacteria of the many that wehave can produce the chemical
that we desire, and through thatwe're creating a machine
learning algorithm to help usbetter predict.
So as we continue to do R&D, wewill be able to continue
(15:54):
building in the data set forthat algorithm.
So each chemical that we createbecomes easier and easier to
find the right bacteria and theright resources.
Our favorite pitch competitionwas probably Ocean Exchange.
We were so excited to competein the collegiate competition at
(16:15):
Ocean Exchange and we won thatcompetition.
Ocean Exchange is all aboutbuilding the blue economy in
South Florida and there's justso many great companies and
people within that organizationthat are doing incredible things
(16:36):
to help really bring the blueeconomy to the center stage and
move us forward in that space.
Lori Ann Santamaria (16:42):
Sounds like you guys are really busy.
What upcoming events do youguys have?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (16:46):
Well, we have a lot of things coming up.
We're going to be down in FortLauderdale at the beginning of
April to give a talk at FloridaAtlantic University's Biotech
Bridge and we'll be talkingabout how two PhD students
started a startup company.
And then at the end of April wewill be at EarthX, where we
(17:10):
will be pitching with other blueeconomy companies on our
technology.
Earthx is one of the largestsustainable green conferences in
the world.
And then later on in the summerwe were really excited to be
accepted to pitch at TechConnect, so you could see us in DC
(17:35):
pitching for the TechConnectconference as well.
Lori Ann Santamaria (17:38):
So much going on.
How can people follow you orconnect with you if they want?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (17:41):
to learn more.
Well, they can check out ourLinkedIn or also our website,
wwwcordeliabiocom, and they'rewelcome to reach out on LinkedIn
or email us through the website.
Lori Ann Santamaria (17:57):
We talked about a few different
organizations and upcomingevents.
We will include all of that inthe show notes, so if anybody
wants to follow up, they can dothat as well.
(18:19):
Thank you very much, jessica.
It's been wonderful speakingwith you.
It was great talking with youtoday.
Finally, today's one good thingLocal governments, school
districts and nonprofits are noweligible for a substantial cash
refund on solar panels, evs andother clean energy investments.
That's thanks to the IRS'snewly released rules for clean
energy tax credits.
The credits were previouslyavailable to residents and
(18:42):
businesses, but the IRA nowextends those tax credits to
government entities andnonprofits so that they can take
on a larger role in creating aclean energy economy.
The Southern Alliance for CleanEnergy has a great blog post
explaining this in more detail.
You can check it out atcleanenergyorg.
Welcome to Sustainable North Florida.
I'm your host, Lori AnnSantamaria.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (00:06):
So every chemical that we create is
tested to ensure that it iscoral safe and safe for the
ocean, safe for you, safe forour environment as a whole.
Lori Ann Santamaria (00:20):
Welcome to today's show.
Our guest is the co-founder ofa company developing ocean-safe
chemicals for use in variousindustries, including cosmetics
and consumer products.
First, some good news for you.
Demand for the oil used incombustible fuels is projected
to peak in 2028.
However, one segment of the oilmarket, the petrochemical
(00:41):
industry, is set to growsignificantly over that same
time period.
There are really quite a fewnuances to consider here.
Petrochemicals are present inmany products that will be hard
for us to wean off of.
They're used in everything fromthe blades of wind turbines to
pharmaceuticals.
At the same time, though, therefining and petrochemical
industries in the US emit theequivalent of 100 coal-fired
(01:05):
power plants each year, andcommunities near refineries
suffer from higher rates ofcancer compared to the general
population.
Enter Cordelia Biosciences.
In addition to creatingmarine-safe products, they're
developing a novel process whichrequires no petrochemicals.
Cordelia is a rising star inthe Gainesville startup
community, and I do mean thatliterally.
(01:27):
They won the Rising StarsStartup Award last year.
Here's my conversation withco-founder Jessica
Tittle-Nielsen Hi, jessica,welcome to Sustainable North
Florida.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (01:39):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Lori Ann Santamaria (01:40):
We've asked you here today to tell us about
Cordelia Biosciences, which isa company that you co-founded.
But first, if you could juststart off by giving us a little
bit about your background,
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (01:55):
I am a marine biologist here at the
University of Florida.
I'm in my PhD program here andI study coral conservation.
But prior to that, I worked atGojo Industries as a new
(02:16):
technology scientist, where Igot to experience a lot of the
chemical industry and productindustry side.
But the two of those combinedis really what made me start my
company with CordeliaBiosciences, along with my
co-founder, monica Scholl.
Lori Ann Santamaria (02:29):
How did you come up with the initial
concept for your company and howdid you grow it into what it is
today?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (02:35):
Well, actually the company started out
.
I had this idea that I wouldcreate a consulting company to
help other companies createsustainable products using
biomimicry and looking to nature.
But when my co-founder came onboard and said she was
interested in joining me, westarted to talk about it and
(02:59):
realized you know, why?
Just show other people how todo this?
Why not just do it ourselves?
And we decided that we reallylove corals.
We think that coral microbes arejust the coolest thing in the
entire world.
They are able to create someabsolutely incredible chemicals
(03:22):
and we knew that there was anopportunity there.
So that's where we were inJanuary of 2023, was really just
this concept of coral are cooland so are their microbes.
I'm sure we can make a company,and from that we have built out
the entire model of CordeliaBiosciences and started our R&D
(03:45):
to create sustainable chemicalsfrom coral bacteria.
So really, the two of us comingtogether, we have very
complementary skill sets andreally just create the perfect
storm of founders to help bringthis idea into life, and we were
(04:05):
very excited about where it'sgoing from here.
Lori Ann Santamaria (04:08):
Can you tell me a little bit more about
those complementary skill sets?
Jessica Tittl Nielse (04:11):
Absolutely .
Monica came on board and she'sour chief science officer.
Monica is incredible in the lab.
She is probably one of thesmartest people I've ever met
and really has all the skillsneeded to go from bacteria to
chemical.
I, on the other hand, I'm alsoa scientist by nature and at
(04:35):
heart, but my passion reallylies in the business side and
how you bring technology tomarket.
And combining her coreunderstanding of the science and
her ability to get thesebacteria to create the chemicals
and my abilities to find theplaces for these chemicals
within the market and build thebusiness around it, we've become
(04:56):
a great team where we've reallymerged science and business in
what I think is a really greatway for a biotech company
starting out like us.
Lori Ann Santamaria (05:06):
That sounds like a really cool partnership
and with that you've been ableto go from the back of the
napkin idea that we were justtalking about earlier to being a
rising star.
Can you tell us about that?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (05:16):
Yeah, we were really excited to find that
StartGNV actually picked us asthe Gainesville Rising Star
startup for 2023.
And that was just a really greathonor to show all the great
things that we've done in 2023.
Going from, like you said, theback of the napkin, we have an
(05:39):
idea and we think it's cool toopening our lab in October at UF
Innovate over at St Martin inAlachua and actually starting to
create our products so that wecan bring them to market.
What sparked your interest inmarine science?
Oh gosh, I was interested inmarine biology from a really
(06:00):
young age, even though Iactually grew up in Ohio, so I'm
from Cleveland and the oceanand study the ocean and have
(06:24):
really been working ondeveloping a career that allows
me to do that and to do good forthe seas, because the oceans
impact every aspect of our livesand everything that we do,
whether we are on the coast orin the center of the country,
(06:44):
can have an impact on the oceanas well.
So it's just so important thatwe understand it and care about
it and help protect it.
Lori Ann Santamaria (06:53):
So the ocean is vast and there are a
lot of different things that wecan study about the ocean.
What is the specific problemthat you guys are trying?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (07:01):
to address.
At Cordelia Biosciences.
Our big problem that we'retrying to address is chemical
pollution and also unsustainablechemical manufacturing
practices, so it's kind of atwo-part problem.
The first is that everythingthat you use in your daily life
(07:21):
you know, the soap that you washdown the drain, the lotion you
put on your face, the productsthat you consume and use all the
time everything that you useends up back in the environment.
And so my co-founder and Idecided that we really wanted to
come up with a way that we cancreate the ingredients for the
(07:43):
products that you use that whenthey come back to the
environment, they aresustainable and do no harm.
So every chemical that wecreate is tested to ensure that
it is coral safe and safe forthe ocean, safe for you, safe
for our environment as a whole.
We do this because everythingthat you use ends up.
(08:07):
You know all drains lead to thesea.
The other aspect issustainability in regards to
manufacturing.
So right now, all of theingredients in your product when
you pick up your lotion, all ofthe ingredients in your product
when you pick up your lotion,the majority of the ingredients
in there either come frompetroleum or plants, and I think
we all kind of know the issueswith petroleum at this point, so
(08:30):
I don't really have to go intothose.
But plant-based is also notreally sustainable for the
environment.
You have issues with cuttingdown the rainforest and then
just the transportation of thoseplant products across the world
to be processed into thechemicals for your product.
(08:50):
So our goal is to manufacturefrom bacteria, and these
bacteria can be sent in a tinyvial in the mail where we can
then grow them up andsustainably manufacture our
chemical ingredients.
Lori Ann Santamaria (09:06):
Once you have the bacteria, what are the
manufacturing ingredients thatyou have going into it?
Everything else is sustainableonce you have the bacteria.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (09:12):
Yeah.
So what's really cool is withthe bacteria.
You basically just have to feedit.
So our bacteria we use a youknow seawater and nutrient froth
that they grow in and you knowit has sugars and things like
(09:34):
that that help them grow, andthe bacteria act like these tiny
little biomanufacturers andthey pump out the chemicals for
us and then we just separate outthe chemicals from the broth or
the bacteria themselves andthat's what we are able to sell
into the market.
Lori Ann Santamaria (09:54):
Are you launching with a specific
product first, or do you havemultiple products that you're
working on right now?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (09:59):
So our first product market is a
preservative ingredient and weare working on the MVP for that
product right now and thatpreservative ingredient we will
sell into the cosmetics andpersonal care market first.
However, it can go into foodmarkets and areas like that.
(10:19):
But we're not just a singularingredient company.
We are building out a chemicalcompany overall.
So over time we will be addingadditional chemicals to our
portfolio.
We're looking at some of ourbacteria can create anti-aging
(10:41):
and sun care ingredients andsurfactant ingredients all
chemicals that we use in ourdaily life.
Lori Ann Santamaria (10:49):
Would you be licensing this technology or
would you be actuallymanufacturing and selling the
bacteria or the product that's?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (10:54):
a great question.
So it really depends on thechemical.
If the chemical is one that wehave the expertise and it makes
sense for us to scale, then wewill go ahead and scale it and
sell it ourselves.
However, we've already startedtalking to some larger chemical
companies that are interested inour technology and in that
(11:18):
instance we would consider alicensing or even co-development
project with them.
Lori Ann Santamaria (11:24):
Okay, and I have heard both chemical and
bacteria.
So what is the product?
The product is chemical.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (11:32):
So to explain a little bit more
clearly, you can think of thebacteria as the manufacturer.
So that's replacing yourtypical chemical manufacturing.
So we would be usingbiomanufacturing techniques.
So the bacteria creates thechemical and we just take that
(11:54):
chemical right from nature andcan use it in our product.
Lori Ann Santamaria (11:57):
What testing would be required in
order to get this into themarket?
Is there any type of regulatoryprocess or certification that
you guys will need?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (12:04):
to go through.
So for the cosmetics market, no, there's no specific regulatory
process that we have to gothrough.
We have our own personaltesting that we will be doing,
of course, to make sure that thechemical is safe and effective
and used for people.
But we are also very passionateabout ensuring that every
(12:27):
chemical that we create is safefor the environment, and so we
are developing a coral safetesting method to ensure that we
can stand behind when we saythat our chemicals will not harm
the coral reefs, because whywould we create chemicals that
hurt the environment that we'retrying to save?
(12:49):
So our testing method will testdirectly on corals and ensure
that none of our chemicals harmthem.
Lori Ann Santamaria (12:57):
So that's really interesting because I've
definitely seen on the market,like sunscreens, for example,
that say that they're reef safe.
There's not an industrystandard test that is done.
You have to create your own.
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (13:06):
Correct.
In fact, there's no realindustry standard around reef
safe at all, and that's one ofthe things that, at Cordelia, we
would really like to change,because right now, every product
that you see out there thatsays reef safe, that's typically
because it does not have a fewkey ingredients that we know
(13:29):
harm the coral reefs, but thatdoesn't mean that the other
ingredients in the productsaren't harming the reefs.
So we think it's reallyimportant to test everything in
the products that we use to makesure that they're safe when
they go out into our environment.
Lori Ann Santamaria (13:46):
It seems like you're developing this
company very intentionally witha holistic approach.
Are you guys looking at gettinga B Corp certification by any
chance?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (13:54):
Yes, we are.
We have started talking aboutgetting our B-Core certification
.
So we'll be doing that probablywithin this next spring
timeframe.
Lori Ann Santamaria (14:03):
Jessica, I believe your company started in
the Gator Hatchery.
Can you tell us about that?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (14:19):
students at the University of Florida,
and when we decided that wewanted to start a company, we
applied for what they call theBig Idea Competition here at UF,
and that led us over to theGator Hatchery, which is an
incredible resource that anyuniversity student at UF can use
, where the business professorswill help you figure out how to
(14:41):
build your company.
So they've provided mentorshipfor us.
Resources have helped send usto competitions everything we've
needed to go from an idea to afull-blown company actually
creating products.
Lori Ann Santamaria (15:00):
As a young company, that usually involves
pitch competitions and thingslike that.
Can you tell us what you guyshave done on that front?
Jessica Tittl Nielse (15:06):
Absolutely so we've done quite a few pitch
competitions over 2023.
We went to the Rice BusinessPlan competition where we got a
$20,000 investment prize, and wealso placed second in the UFAI
days.
Part of our development processactually utilizes AI to look
(15:33):
into the genomes of the bacteriaand try to predict which
bacteria of the many that wehave can produce the chemical
that we desire, and through thatwe're creating a machine
learning algorithm to help usbetter predict.
So as we continue to do R&D, wewill be able to continue
(15:54):
building in the data set forthat algorithm.
So each chemical that we createbecomes easier and easier to
find the right bacteria and theright resources.
Our favorite pitch competitionwas probably Ocean Exchange.
We were so excited to competein the collegiate competition at
(16:15):
Ocean Exchange and we won thatcompetition.
Ocean Exchange is all aboutbuilding the blue economy in
South Florida and there's justso many great companies and
people within that organizationthat are doing incredible things
(16:36):
to help really bring the blueeconomy to the center stage and
move us forward in that space.
Lori Ann Santamaria (16:42):
Sounds like you guys are really busy.
What upcoming events do youguys have?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (16:46):
Well, we have a lot of things coming up.
We're going to be down in FortLauderdale at the beginning of
April to give a talk at FloridaAtlantic University's Biotech
Bridge and we'll be talkingabout how two PhD students
started a startup company.
And then at the end of April wewill be at EarthX, where we
(17:10):
will be pitching with other blueeconomy companies on our
technology.
Earthx is one of the largestsustainable green conferences in
the world.
And then later on in the summerwe were really excited to be
accepted to pitch at TechConnect, so you could see us in DC
(17:35):
pitching for the TechConnectconference as well.
Lori Ann Santamaria (17:38):
So much going on.
How can people follow you orconnect with you if they want?
Jessica Tittl Nielsen (17:41):
to learn more.
Well, they can check out ourLinkedIn or also our website,
wwwcordeliabiocom, and they'rewelcome to reach out on LinkedIn
or email us through the website.
Lori Ann Santamaria (17:57):
We talked about a few different
organizations and upcomingevents.
We will include all of that inthe show notes, so if anybody
wants to follow up, they can dothat as well.
(18:19):
Thank you very much, jessica.
It's been wonderful speakingwith you.
It was great talking with youtoday.
Finally, today's one good thingLocal governments, school
districts and nonprofits are noweligible for a substantial cash
refund on solar panels, evs andother clean energy investments.
That's thanks to the IRS'snewly released rules for clean
energy tax credits.
The credits were previouslyavailable to residents and
(18:42):
businesses, but the IRA nowextends those tax credits to
government entities andnonprofits so that they can take
on a larger role in creating aclean energy economy.
The Southern Alliance for CleanEnergy has a great blog post
explaining this in more detail.
You can check it out atcleanenergyorg.
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