GET A PIECE OF MANTA BIOFUEL
Transforming Pollution to Power
$542,021.45 Raised
REASONS TO INVEST
Trusted by Top Investors: We’ve raised over $5.2M in public and private investment. This includes over $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Maryland and $2.2M from private investors like Exelon (a Fortune 100 corporation), professional angel investors, and over 4,000 crowdfunding investors.
Experienced Leadership: Our CEO Chris Lindsay has 30+ years of experience in the biotech industry, having held executive roles at both large multinational and startup companies. Our Founder and CTO Ryan Powell holds a PhD in algal biofuels, is the inventor of our core technology, and has nearly 20 years of experience in science and technology.
Strong Market Traction: In 2022 we launched our water treatment service, realized our first revenue, executed multiple successful field trials around the country with prospective customers and lined up more demonstrations for 2023. Funds are needed to scale our commercial operations and capitalize on this momentum.
the pitch
Our patented technology removes pollutants, like algae blooms and excessive nutrients, from water more sustainably than traditional methods for a fraction of the cost. Combining established water treatment processes with our proprietary magnetic filtration technology allows us to fit the power of a water treatment plant in a highly mobile footprint. This unique mobility opens largely underserved segments of the $300B water treatment market (source). Manta can then leverage its experience in biofuel production to convert collected pollutants like algae into a carbon neutral fuel. By combining our innovative water treatment technology with our experience in biofuels, we will simultaneously address two critical issues facing the world today- water pollution and climate change.
overview
Transforming Pollution to Power
Manta was founded with the ultimate goal of converting algae into carbon neutral biofuel. In the quest to make this dream a reality, we realized that our cutting-edge magnetic separation technology could also be used to quickly and economically clean polluted water. We discovered a way to address two environmental problems at once: water pollution and carbon emissions.
The problem
Polluted water and climate change are problems that impact everyone
Cleaning water is an >$300B industry and there are large segments of this market that are not being served (source). Since 2018, nearly two-thirds of all wastewater treatment lagoons have at least one pollutant exceeding EPA standards (source), often caused by excessive growth algae. These EPA compliance violations can mean hefty fines or even jail time.
80% of all wastewater treatment facilities serve small communities and typically use lagoons to clean their water (source). Addressing these EPA violations often requires installation of new equipment, taking years and costing $5 million or more.
Picture of wastewater lagoons
Operators need to solve this problem but it is often not financially feasible for many communities. An operator had this to say:
“When we have this problem there is no one we can turn to for a solution”.
-Dave Dollinger, Director of Public Works, Toluca Illinois
And the situation is only growing more challenging. Climate change is making things worse because higher temperatures due to global warming are causing more severe algae blooms (source). Meanwhile, population growth stretches many wastewater treatment facilities to their limits, with 81% operating at near capacity and 15% are already over capacity (source). Operators like Dave are stuck. They want to do the right thing, but don’t have the resources to fix the problem.
Climate change is causing significant damage to society and the environment
Manta was founded to convert algae to renewable fuel to fight climate change. Collecting and converting waste algae is a better way forward to address the need for renewable fuel. The United States alone consumes nearly 20 million barrels of fossil fuel every single day, emitting 300 trillion pounds of CO2 annually (source, source). There are some sectors such as air travel and cargo shipping that will be difficult to move away from liquid fuels.
Our Solution
A cost-effective, mobile water treatment solution for addressing acute water pollution
Our cutting edge process uses black magnetic sand, called magnetite, and powerful magnets to rapidly remove >90% of contaminants, like algae and phosphorus, from the water.
Traditional water treatment systems require massive footprints and massive checks, but our proprietary, magnetic separation technology allows us to pack the power of a water treatment plant into a trailerable, cost-effective mobile system.
Our compact system is very efficient and removes target contaminants to well below EPA limits. Over 90% of problem pollutants , like algae, excess nutrients, and other contaminants are continuously removed from over 75,000 gallons of water daily.
This mobile approach gives us access to markets that could not be previously addressed, such as rapid treatment of acute water problems nearly anywhere. Our solution can be deployed on an as-needed basis for as little as $10K per month. This allows customers like wastewater operators to quickly and cost-effectively address their problems without spending millions of dollars to upgrade facilities. Manta can then ultimately use the algae removed from these jobs as a feedstock to make biofuel.
Manta knows how to transform algae to fuel
Manta has years of experience in growing, recovering, and converting algae into biofuel. Typically biofuel companies incur significant costs to grow, harvest, and then convert algae to biofuel. We change this equation by getting paid to remove polluting algae that is growing at a customer’s site, then ultimately transforming this recovered contaminant into biofuel. This new paradigm drives significantly more favorable economics for biofuel production.
Renewable oil that was produced from algae. Distillable to renewable gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel.
The Market
Cleaning water is a >$300B dollar industry
And we believe there are key segments of this market that are not being served.
Manta’s compact, mobile system can rapidly address a wide variety of acute/transient water pollution issues quickly and cost-effectively. Many markets remain unserved by other companies due to the cost and larger footprint of their systems.
Converting algae from water pollution into carbon neutral fuel could allow access to the $3.5T fuel market
Manta ultimately plans to transform the polluting algae from its water treatment activities into carbon neutral biofuel. Our algae-based oil, which doesn’t contribute to climate change, can be used to make renewable gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, bunker fuel, and heating oil. In many markets, renewable, carbon neutral, crude oil is the only way to fully decarbonize the economy.
Our Traction
Ramping sales and growing customer pipeline in multiple markets
In 2022 we launched our water treatment service and quickly gained strong commercial traction. In Q3 2022, we achieved a major revenue milestone with three paid pond treatment projects for the Columbia Association in Maryland.
The watershed manager at Columbia Association had this to say:
"You guys need a bigger machine so I can use it to treat my lakes!"
- John McCoy, Columbia Association
We used this success to advance discussions with a leader in the pond/lake management space that is part of a multinational company with $3.7B in revenue. This company has nearly 10,000 ponds/lakes under management in Florida alone. We are also in ongoing discussions with another leading solutions provider in the space on how we could integrate our technology.
We continued this momentum and successfully completed a half dozen field demonstrations with prospective wastewater lagoon customers around the country in 2022, filling the pipeline for revenue in 2023. Feedback from the trials was positive and operators were happy to learn that they finally had an option to fix a persistent problem.
Images showing multiple field demonstration trials in Illinois and Maryland. The bottom right image shows water before (top bucket) and after (bottom bucket) processing.
More projects in adjacent markets, like municipal wastewater treatment and industrial ponds, are planned for early 2023. In Q2 2023, we have a pilot trial planned with a large multinational water treatment company ($1.7 B in revenue in 2022). We also have an active project with the Maryland Port Administration, treating water from their dredge spoil containment pond. Field trials are also planned in Q2 2023.
Why Invest
Join us in transforming pollution to power!
Manta Biofuel is making the world a better place by cleaning up contaminated bodies of water and ultimately converting pollution into carbon-neutral biofuel. Since our launch, we have raised over $5 million in funding, successfully demonstrated our patented technology in the field, and established a world-class team of scientists and executives. We’ve generated great traction in 2022 and now need to capitalize on this opportunity. With this raise, we plan to scale up commercial operations by building additional treatment systems to serve customers in the pipeline, by expanding marketing activities to bring in more customers, and by continuing R&D.
ABOUT
HEADQUARTERS
11438 Cronridge Dr Suite E
Owings Mills, MD 21117
WEBSITE
View Site
Wastewater treatment facilities often exceed EPA pollution limits, which can lead to fines or even jail time. Using our proprietary technology, Manta Biofuel's mobile wastewater treatment system quickly and cost-effectively cleans polluted bodies of water. Pollutants, like algae, can ultimately be converted into renewable carbon neutral fuel. We have demonstrated our patented technology in the field, and we are ready to scale.
TEAM
Christopher Jared Lindsay
Chief Executive Officer
Ryan Joseph Powell
Co-Founder, CTO, and Director
Onur Unal
Director, Co-Founder
TERMS
Manta Biofuel
Overview
PRICE PER SHARE
$2.10
DEADLINE
Sep 21, 2023
VALUATION
$8.98M
FUNDING GOAL
$15k - $750k
Breakdown
MIN INVESTMENT
$357
MAX INVESTMENT
$750,000.30
MIN NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
7,142
MAX NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
357,143
OFFERING TYPE
Equity
ASSET TYPE
Preferred Stock
SHARES OFFERED
Series Seed-1 Preferred Stock
Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares
*Maximum number of shares offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See Bonus info below.
Investment Incentives and Bonuses*
Loyalty Bonus - Previous investors of Manta Biofuel will receive an additional 10% bonus shares.
Time-Based:
Friends, Family and Elite Early Bird Bonus: Invest within the first 48 hours and receive 20% bonus shares.
Super Early Bird Bonus: Invest within the first 96 hours and receive 15% bonus shares.
Early Bird Bonus: Invest within the first two weeks and receive 10% bonus shares.
Amount-Based:
$500+ | Tier 1
Invest $500+ and receive 5% Bonus Shares.
$1,000+ | Tier 2
Invest $1,000+ and receive 10% Bonus Shares.
$2,500+ | Tier 3
Invest $2,500+ and receive 15% Bonus Shares.
$5,000+ | Tier 4
Invest $5,000+ and receive 20% Bonus Shares.
$10,000+ | Tier 5
Invest $10,000+ and receive 25% Bonus Shares.
*In order to receive perks from an investment, one must submit a single investment in the same offering that meets the minimum perk requirement. Bonus shares from perks will not be granted if an investor submits multiple investments that, when combined, meet the perk requirement. All perks occur when the offering is completed.
The 10% StartEngine Owners' Bonus
Manta Biofuel will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. OWNer's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Series Seed-1 Preferred Stock at $2.10/ share, you will receive 110 shares of Series Seed-1 Preferred Stock meaning you'll own 110 shares for $210. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are canceled or fail.
Investors will receive the highest single bonus they are eligible for among the bonuses based on the amount invested and the time of offering elapsed (if any). Eligible investors will also receive the Owner’s Bonus and the Loyalty Bonus where previous investors will receive 10% bonus shares in addition to the aforementioned bonus.
Irregular Use of Proceeds
The Company might incur Irregular Use of Proceeds that may include but are not limited to the following over $10,000: Vendor payments.
ALL UPDATES
Stack Owner's Bonus & Rewards!
Members get an extra 10% shares in addition to rewards below!
REWARDS
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
0/2500
Chan Komagan
7 days ago
Congrats on the Kershner Environmental contract. Hope to see more good news in the future.
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Robert Love
10 days ago
Happy to be investing again! All I can say is by investing in companies like Manta, you're not just embracing sustainability. Their innovative solutions point toward a brighter, more eco-conscious future, and their emerging expertise in wastewater treatment and algae removal addresses pressing market needs. Investing in Manta is a strategic move, blending current demand with tremendous long-term potential.
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Madhava Yeruva
11 days ago
Is there any referral bonus?
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Andrew Neely
16 days ago
Hello! First of all, I love the concept of your business. As I'm sure you know well, crude oil can be refined to make numerous different petroleum products from gasoline, to kerosene, and butane. Is there a particular fuel you're hoping to replicate? Do you know if you'll produce long or short chain hydrocarbons?
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Adrian Jackson
25 days ago
Chris extend your raise again for another month or two.
Also a quick update. Fundrise has a lot of companies looking to be added to their Innovation Fund. It’s going to take a while as they do very careful research and evaluations to determine if they should invest in a company. I just sent them another reminder to look out for a company called “Manta Biofuel”. Every month i send them a reminder. They do appreciate the reminders i send them. However it could take a while as it seems like they have a never ending list of private and start up companies applying to be added. I would love to see you guys in the innovation fund. So far i can tell they make really good decisions because the companies they added so far are very promising. I see some early stage companies, mid stage companies and late stage companies. They also opened the innovation fund up so shareholders can add more cash to the fund. So the fund can hold more than $1 Billion in cash to be deployed. As we all know the economy is getting ready to bottom out, when it does they know a lot of businesses will need cash that is why they want us shareholders to add more cash in the fund to deploy into innovative companies. We added a lot of more cash, not only that we told them to use a portion of the cash to deploy into Corporate bonds to also help increase Cash on Hands, Fundrise added millions to Uber and Square corporate bonds, those bonds will give them a 15.5% gross return to increase their cash on hand . Hang tight Chris this is going to take some time. Until then continue to extend your raise on here for another month or two. Stay positive.
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Alan Goldberg
a month ago
What are you doing? Do you have any income-creating projects right now?
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Ozzy Akay
a month ago
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Raymond LeVesque
a month ago
Obviously this would require huge scale-up. Just highlighting another potential Manta customer in places like Clear Lake, CA: https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2023/reviving-famously-polluted-california-lake?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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Raymond LeVesque
a month ago
Thank you, Chris, for your informative responses to my perhaps wonky questions. I find them interesting and helpful. I understand and support your focus on water remediation. It looks like Manta's way to cash flow and profitability, and is a nicely differentiated capability that is readily at hand. I appreciate your reporting on recent progress at Marlay Taylor and the efforts of you and your team. I wish I could invest more now, and hope to do so in the future.
Go Manta!
Ray
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Adrian Jackson
5 days ago
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