Colorado’s newest startup incubator recently opened its doors on the campus of the state’s oldest public institution of higher learning.
Silvis Materials Makes Clean Glue
John Himes
April 23, 2025
Between tightening regulations and the effects of global greenhouse gas emissions, now more than ever we need to invest in scaling up and deploying clean technologies.
Silvis Materials, a tech startup based in Boulder, Colorado, is decarbonizing industry—not with solar panels or wind turbines, but with glue made out of pulp from plants and trees.
Did you know that most adhesives are made out of petroleum? Or that the glue in consumer packaging and building materials like particle board contributes up to 80% of these items’ carbon footprint?
Dirty, formaldehyde-based glues are carcinogenic, they break down into toxic microplastics, and they’re also the reason you can’t recycle your old furniture.
Silvis’ glue is biodegradable, compostable, and made from biomass like waste residues from agriculture and forestry. Essentially, Silvis is able to take a farmer’s trash—think wheat straw and corn stalks—and turn it into something valuable and useful. That’s as much a win for the farmer, who gets to turn waste disposal costs into revenue, as it is for consumers and the environment.
And they’re building it all in Colorado, a state that excels in both high-tech development and environmental stewardship.
“Colorado is an entrepreneurial epicenter, and the state is becoming the hub for cleantech in the US,” says Patty Ferreira, cofounder and CEO of Silvis Materials.
Innovative materials for sustainable adhesives
Like so many great ideas, this one started at the dinner table.
The Ferreiras are a family of chemical engineers. While they were sitting around the table, they were discussing what they could do to make an impact on sustainability. When the idea of creating a binder out of natural materials came up, it stuck.
That’s because cellulose, the main ingredient in Silvis’ glue, is extremely common and accessible. Cellulose is a basic structural component of plant cell walls and makes up 33% of all vegetable matter. It’s the most abundant of all naturally occurring organic compounds.
“Anything that can be turned into pulp can be used in our supply chain,” explains Dr. Dhrubo Laskar, cofounder and CTO of Silvis. This ranges from agricultural residue to pulp from fast-growing eucalyptus trees. “We can use any type of cellulose,” he says. “The way we process it makes us unique.”
Once the pulp lands in their lab at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, it undergoes chemical reactions using green solvents. They tweak the process for different applications, turning it into glue for consumer packaging or binders for particle board.
While the end product is similar in many ways to other adhesives we encounter every day, the real difference is the environmental effect of the product’s lifecycle. “Companies are scrambling to reduce their use of formaldehyde-based glues, and they’re also wanting to reduce their carbon footprint,” says Ferreira. “Because of that, they’re looking to reduce the amount of fossil-based glues they use.”
Instead of emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during production, their raw materials actually sequester carbon—because plants absorb CO2 while they grow. Their production process also consumes less energy than making plastic-based glues. And, since the final product is biodegradable, products that include it (such as single-use containers) can now be recycled.
They’ve filed for a provisional patent, and the next step is scaling their manufacturing. They’ve improved their production runs from making a few grams to producing liters at a time. Now, in order to meet customer demand in their ongoing paid pilot programs, the job at hand is scaling up to mass production.
Journey of a cleantech startup
When you combine innovative technology, a mission-driven team, and a large market opportunity—formaldehyde used in particle board alone is a $14B industry—you end up with a winning formulation.
“I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life,” says Ferreira. “As a plastics engineer, I invented an automotive packaging product using recycled materials. From concept to large-scale manufacturing, I got that done in 12 months.” Over the course of her career, she’s been a part of several startups, and she’s built a network of like-minded people.
So when she approached Laskar, who was an executive at another Colorado-based company specializing in biorefining and converting cellulose into valuable products, he was convinced. “I saw that I could have a bigger impact at Silvis,” he recalls. “It intrigued my mind, and I thought, ‘This is the best possible way to create change.’”
After calling in a favor with another local chemical company, Synthio Chemicals, who gave the Silvis team access to some lab space, they developed their first prototype. They were able to parlay that into a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant and acceptance into Knoxville’s Techstars Industries of the Future accelerator program.
There, they collaborated with leading scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab. They began working with Dr. Shang Dai, a materials expert who now serves as an advisor, and his postdoc, Dr. Chi-Linh Do-Thanh, an organic synthesis and solvent chemistry specialist who joined Silvis full-time as Director of R&D.
Since then, they’ve continued to refine their product, work with customers to understand their needs, and scale production.
Because Silvis’ adhesives can be made from a wide range of plant materials, farmers and foresters are now able to monetize otherwise valueless byproducts. At the same time, Silvis is creating a cost-competitive solution that reduces carbon emissions and plastic pollution.
With tightening government spending, particularly around environmental efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the US, Silvis is racing against the clock to gain paid pilots in industry.
With federal funding opportunities becoming less stable, they feel more pressure to seek private investment on a shorter timeline. Additionally, with the uncertainties around global trade, they’ve had to rethink their supply chain and manufacturing strategy. “Before, we were planning on doing all of our manufacturing in the United States,” explains Ferreira. “Now we have to wait and see.”
Still, if there’s one defining characteristic of entrepreneurs and successful startups, it’s resilience.
The Silvis Materials team is adapting to changing times and moving forward with a pilot to provide a multinational corporation with sustainable packaging. Their goal is to collaborate with more customers and investors so they can reach full-scale manufacturing by 2027.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING?
Get more, straight to your inbox.
Colorado is the place to be for cleantech innovation
In the Colorado tech ecosystem, we have a give-first mentality. For Silvis Materials, it was this collaborative attitude and generous spirit that offered them their very first opportunity. Synthio Chemicals, based in Broomfield, gave Silvis some bench space and loaned them the equipment to create their first prototype.
“The Synthio team gave us the kernel to establish feasibility,” says Ferreira.“That’s what got us into Techstars and got us our first NSF grant. Their generosity got us going.”
That’s the power of community. Ferreira has been involved in Colorado’s tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem since she moved here in 1997. Alongside Silvis’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Kim Hedberg, she hosted the Boulder Business Series, an event series where startups would present their ideas and network. Together, they’ve also participated in Boulder Startup Week and Denver Startup Week.
The state government has also contributed to Silvis’s growth. The company received a grant through the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) Advanced Industries program. “This really helped us pay for expenses not covered by our NSF grant,” says Hedberg.
CU Boulder is another key node in their network. As a co-awardee of the university’s $1M NSF SBIR Phase II grant, CU provides them with lab space for R&D, and professor Andrew Goodwin tests their materials to make sure they’re up to the job of replacing fossil-based adhesives.
The Silvis team also points to many other organizations in Colorado that contribute to their success. These range from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) to their law firm, KO Law. The support they get from the state’s ecosystem is crucial.
So is the Colorado lifestyle. The team loves getting out in nature and enjoying everything our state has to offer.
“Colorado is a great place to live,” concludes Feirrera. “If you’re happy outside work, you’re happy at work. That’s why Colorado attracts the smartest people in the world. They want to live and work here.”
About the Colorado Tech Spotlight
The Colorado Tech Spotlight highlights local innovations and the stories behind them. The series explores how the Colorado tech ecosystem creates an environment that promotes technological progress.
It is produced by Dynamic Tech Media and written by John Himes. Photography by Kort Duce.
Colorado Tech Insider Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on the latest innovations and the stories behind them
Keep diving into more Colorado tech
Did you know that most black ink comes from fossil fuels? Living Ink is changing that by creating sustainable pigment out of algae.
Imagine a place where a physician can see patients in the morning, teach a class in the afternoon, go to the lab to check in on their research, then finish their day at their startup’s office—all without ever having to get in the car.