The idea

“Launch HN: Rise Reforming (YC S26) – Turning Waste Gases into Valuable Chemicals https://www.rise-reforming.com Founder's Show HN post: Hi HN! This is George, Lucas, and Jona from Rise Reforming (https://www.rise-reforming.com/). We’re developing a process to convert gas produced at landfills, farms, and wastewater plants (“biogas”) into higher value chemicals. Our technology is modular, designed to be deployed and operated on-site. Think of us as a chemical project developer; we sit between biogas producers (suppliers) and chemical end users (customers). We pay biogas producers for their gas and we make money from selling our chemicals. We're starting with dimethyl ether (DME) as our beachhead chemical because of its high-margin use case in the cosmetics industry and ultimately targeting methanol – a versatile and widely used industrial chemical. Being in a two sided market allows us to target two large problems. (1) On the chemical side: The multi-trillion dollar U.S. chemical and fuel industries are vulnerable to geopolitical conflicts and climate-driven natural disasters. The Iran war has caused global methanol prices to skyrocket – even in the U.S., a net exporter of methanol. (https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news... the US). In 2021, Winter Storm Uri wiped out 60% of U.S. organic chemicals production for at least a month (https://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2021/swe2102/swe2102c...). The problem? Centralized production and fossil-fuel dependence. The solution isn't unknown; decentralized, fossil-free production could insulate supply chains from these shocks. But distributed green chemical production has yet to become cost-competitive with the status quo. Unlocking it requires the right feedstock paired with the right process and strategy. Also, the chemical industry’s reliance on fossil fuels makes it responsible for 5-6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. About 40% of the industry’s well-to-gate emissions come from just the extraction, processing, and transportation of these fossil fuels (https://rmi.org/resources/chemistry-in-transition-charting-s...). (2) Bi Landing page content (Home | Rise Reforming): Home | Rise Reforming #### RISE REFORMING Play Background Video: rise V4 (1) (online-video-cutter.com).mp4 ## Biogas is the ideal domestic feedstock: the U.S. produces enough biogas to make over $20 billion worth of chemicals annually, but 60% is wasted or flared in low-margin applications ##### Supply-Secure We convert domestic raw biogas into chemicals, removing the reliance on fossil fuels and vulnerable supply chains. ##### Modular Our technology fits inside a shipping container, allowing for rapid and in-situ deployment, quicker payback, streamlined permitting, and access to the cheapest biogas. ##### Scalable We can scale with your facility, easily adding or subtracting modules, ensuring long-term financial growth. ##### Price Competitive Our proprietary process enables us to produce DME that competes pricewise with petrochemical DME and the cheapest green methanol & DMC available. ##### Low-Carbon Our modules utilize waste gases to produce chemicals without the extraction, processing, and transportation of fossil fuels as raw materials. Rise Reforming becomes the first company in the Americas to produce syngas from wastewater biogas. Sept 2026 Rise Reforming joins Y Combinator’s S26 batch to accelerate scale-up and time to market. May 2026 Signed a binding supply agreement and multiple MOUs with biogas producers. Signed a conditional DME offtake agreement for our first commercial unit. April 2026 > Proof-of-concept complete after 1800+ hours of stable syngas production. Next, with pilot plant designs ready, we're taking our technology to live biogas. March 2026 > Pre-seed round of funding closed ($650k) towards completing proof-of-concept, filing process IP, and finalizing our plans for the pilot plant. December 2025 > Rise Reforming plants its roots at Illinois Institute of Technology's incubator lab to continue R&D. Nina Kritikos joins as the first hire. August 2025 Funding secured from UChicago accelerators. CEO George Rose named Climate Fellow by the 776 Foundation, led by Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian. ## Partner With Us We are looking for visionary collaborators and investors to scale our low-carbon chemical production. Email us at contact@rise-reforming.com or fill our the contact form. (contact@rise-reforming.com) contact@rise-reforming.com Chicago, IL”