article | July 22, 2020

Checkerspot unveils skis made from new algae-based bioplastics

US materials innovation company Checkerspot has launched skis called Vital 100, which are made from its newest material – Algal Cast. The company unveiled its algae-based bioplastic product via its outdoor consumer brand WNDR Alpine.

article | July 15, 2020

GM of Wintersports Matt Sterbenz sees the brand as a vehicle for an innovative, algae-based materials play in the outdoor space.

Sterbenz helped launch WNDR Alpine after nearly 20 years running 4FRNT Skis, a first mover in the independent ski movement. He founded 4FRNT in the Lake Tahoe area in 2002 and later moved the company to Utah.

article | June 28, 2020

Some Wonderful Outdoor Products Have a Weird Ingredient

“Performance needs to come before impact,” says Matthias Foessel, CEO of Beyond Surface Technologies. “A lot of companies get this wrong. If our fabrics don’t perform we won’t stay alive as a business, let alone succeed in reducing the industry’s ...

article | May 8, 2020

DIC Uses Corporate Venture Capital to Leverage Biotech Startup Checkerspot Inc.’s Sustainable Microalgae Materials Innovation Platform

The DIC-Checkerspot partnership is focused on commercializing new and improved products and relevant manufacturing processes areas, including adhesives, coatings, printing inks, and lubricants.

article | March 25, 2020

The Power of Algae

Algae are being tapped as a new resource to make fibres, finishes and dyes for the textile industry. Algae bloom can provide cellulose or proteins, and in microalgae form, the species can produce non-petrochemical oils.

article | February 11, 2020

This Company Thinks Algae Will Make Better Skis

Matt Sterbenz believes his company, WNDR Alpine, may have just made the best ski ever. It happens to be built with algae.

article | January 24, 2020

THE WILD WORLD OF MICROBE-MADE PRODUCTS – SKIS NOW INCLUDED

This winter, you can carve the fresh powder of the backcountry on a pair of high-performance, eco-friendly skis designed by world-famous athletes and made from a material produced by microscopic algae. Yes, algae. The skis, made by a rather unco...

article | January 7, 2020

Nature Unlocked: How Matt Sterbenz is using biobased materials to change the game in skiing

What if sustainably derived materials can not only compete with traditional, petroleum-based materials, but actually beat them out? That was the first question Checkerspot founders asked themselves. Once the Berkeley, California-based biotech star...

article | December 20, 2019

IS DIRECT TO CONSUMER MARKETING THE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF SYNBIO?

We spoke with Scott Franklin, Co-Founder and CSO at Checkerspot. Checkerspot is a synthetic biology company biomanufacturing high quality renewable materials for consumer goods. Scott’s deep technical expertise coupled with his diverse experiences...

article | November 20, 2019

Gore-Tex Bets On Synthetic Biology

L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced a collaboration with Checkerspot, bringing together Checkerspot's expertise in bio-based polymers and biotechnology with Gore's decades of experience in high performance apparel. Together, they will expl...

article | November 19, 2019

Gore Innovation Center and Checkerspot Collaborate on High Performance Textiles

Silicon Valley-based Gore Innovation Center announces collaboration with materials startup Checkerspot

article | September 25, 2019

Watch How These Synthetic Biology Companies Will Disrupt the Automotive Industry

From car seats made of algae and leather made of fungi, synthetic biology looks to shake up the automobile industry.

article | September 23, 2019

The NEXT 50 Companies to Disrupt the World

In Florida, The Digest recognized the NEXT 50, “the 50 Next Companies to Disrupt the World”, bioeconomy companies that are on the journey to commercial scale with an emerging technology.

article | August 13, 2019

ALGAE IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF MATERIALS

Checkerspot, a start-up materials company, is using biotechnology to harness the power of nature, fermenting algae to produce novel bio-based oils for use in materials in the outdoor recreational sector and an expanding number of other applications.

article | August 5, 2019

THE GREEN SKI REVOLUTION: MATT STERBENZ LAUNCHES THE WNDR ALPINE SKI BRAND

My eyes light up, as do his, highlighting his new vision of ski production. For the past year, Sterbenz has been the General Manager for Wintersports of Checkerspot—a biotech company based out of Berkeley, California. The task at hand: re-imagine ...

article | June 13, 2019

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

Could a Bay Area biotechnology company reinvent what’s in our ski gear “The outdoor industry is ripe for technological advancements at this level,” Sterbenz continues. “This opportunity is something that could be widely disruptive. And necessary,...

article | May 14, 2019

PERFORMANCE IS THE KEY AS CHECKERSPOT PREPARES TO LAUNCH A PRODUCT FOR THE WINTER SPORTS MARKET

“It’s all about the performance of the material. It’s one thing to put a material in, but you have to validate it using hard data then build the commercial story around that… Quite simply, you must be the better product.” - Charles Dimmler, CEO, C...

article | April 29, 2019

THE FUNDAMENTAL THINGS APPLY: THE RISE OF CHECKERSPOT AND SUPERMATERIALS

“Checkerspot is differentiated in its approach by focusing on more rapidly bringing to market high value materials with unique properties presently unavailable with traditional manufacturing processes. At Builders we partner with companies that ar...

article | April 16, 2019

CHECKERSPOT RAISES $13M SERIES A TO PRODUCE BIOTECH-ENABLED PERFORMANCE MATERIALS

Jim Kim, general partner of Builders VC, who will join Checkerspot’s Board of Directors states... “We’re at a new age of industrial material production,” Kim said. By applying genetic tools in different arenas, he said, we’re able to make materia...

article | April 16, 2019

A MATERIAL NEW INVESTMENT

We (Breakout Ventures) have just invested in Checkerspot, a company using biological foundries to produce new materials sustainably...

article | March 26, 2019

BIOTECHNOLOGY MEETS FASHION AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE: TRENDS IN THE APPAREL INDUSTRY

“Fluorinated coatings are used in a lot of products – apparel, cookware, yoga pants – but they can often be toxic and lose performance over time as they shed into the environment. We are developing bio-based hydrophobic coatings that do not contai...

article | March 18, 2019

FASHION FOR GOOD ANNOUNCES NEW GROUP OF INNOVATORS

Checkerspot was awarded a spot in fifth batch of Fashion for Good Plug and Play Accelerator. “The ten entrepreneurs that will compose the fifth accelerator batch, have been carefully selected from hundreds of applicants. While each innovator has a...

article | November 5, 2018

CHECKERSPOT NAMED IN C&EN 2018 10 START-UPS TO WATCH

“…we are thinking about how we can create materials that perform better and aren’t simply swap-in, swap-out replacements,” Charles Dimmler says.

article | August 3, 2018

MATT STERBENZ, FOUNDER OF 4FRNT, JOINS CHECKERSPOT

“Looking forward to working with a great team of scientists that are developing new molecules for specific performance materials and applying them in breakthrough product designs. I’ve been in the game for a long time, and I’m done working with th...

article | July 3, 2018

CHECKERSPOT RAISES $5M TO BRING NEW HIGH-PERFORMANCE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS FROM MICROALGAE

“We see triglycerides as molecular scaffolds. Our technology platform leverages an understanding of biology, chemistry, materials science and fabrication, and through it we believe we can imbue these molecules with properties that dramatically enh...

article | June 27, 2018

THREE CUSTOMER DISCOVERY TIPS FOR BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE COMPANY

“We want to be much more intentional about the design of materials and product development,” Charles says, “an important part of that is knowing what end-users will want, even if they cannot readily articulate it.”

article | June 25, 2018

CLOSING THE APPLICATIONS GAP: CHECKERSPOT CLOSES $5M SEED FINANCING IN PURSUIT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIOMATERIALS

“This is the right time,” McClary told The Digest. “The novel tool sets and data sets, all colliding with computation. The tools create the data sets, and the computation allows you to move at the speed that’s right. And these are new business pla...

article | May 9, 2018

DIC CORPORATION & CHECKERSPOT SIGN JDA

DIC Corporation and Checkerspot, Inc. entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to create a new class of novel, high performance polyols.

article | April 17, 2018

THE GREEN CHEMISTRY & COMMERCE COUNCIL ANNOUNCES 2018 GREEN & BIO-BASED CHEMISTRY TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE WINNERS

Checkerspot named one of ten showcase winners to present at the GC3 Conference.

article | March 29, 2018

BIO-BASED WORLD NEWS – 5 MINUTES WITH … CHARLES DIMMLER, CEO OF CHECKERSPOT

“In a decade’s time, bio-based industry will no longer be an industry classification. We’re already seeing signs from leading, large consumer brands that they are not differentiating between bio and other feedstocks.”

article | February 6, 2018

ADVANCED MATERIALS SCIENCE – A NEW GENOMIC FRONTIER

Illumina Accelerator Graduate, Checkerspot, is Designing High-Value Materials.