ABOUT US
We are a product company powered by an advanced engineering biology platform and biomanufacturing. We engineer microbes and develop clean fermentation processes to manufacture products of high purity, at low cost, and in a sustainable way. We strive to help the world to transition away from petroleum and address important global issues in environmental preservation, carbon emission and climate change.
With our mission in mind, we founded the company in September 2021. We are located in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park with operations in Japan and US. We are a highly experienced team with our founders having a combined 40+ years of industrial experience in developing bio-based products. We are building an end-to-end business going from technology development to manufacturing and commercialization.
Board members
Our board is comprised of dynamic and experienced leaders who embody the mission, guide the growth and shape the future of Cataya.
Dr. Lishan Zhao has over two decades of experience in engineering biology and a proven track record of developing and commercializing bio-based technologies and products. Prior to founding Cataya, Dr. Zhao served as Vice President of Research and Development at Amyris from 2008 to 2021. During his tenure there, he helped develop a world-class synthetic biology platform and bring more than ten products from lab to market. He also led a successful effort in building its business in China. Before joining Amyris, Dr. Zhao worked at Diversa Corp, where he discovered and engineered enzymes for various industrial applications. Dr. Zhao holds a BS and a MS in chemistry from Fudan University, Shanghai, and a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Dr. Liuyang Diao was Head of Shanghai R&D Center at Meihua Group, and Senior Director of R&D at BioSense before co-founding Cataya in 2021. Prior to that, he served as Project Manager at Shanghai R&D Center of Industrial Biotechnology. Dr. Diao has more than 10 years of experience in industrial biotechnology and successfully developed several robust and highly productive microbial strains and took them to biomanufacturing at commercial scale. He was selected as Outstanding Young Talent by Hebei Province in recognition of his excellence. Dr. Diao holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Anhui University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Microbiology from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Research Center Jülich, Germany.
Dr. Shiyuan Hu has over ten years of experience in biotechnology R&D and product applications with deep knowledge and expertise in scale up and production of bio-based ingredients. He successfully led the development of biosurfactant products from R&D lab in China to production in Europe, as well as transferred technologies from Europe and facilitated tolling production in China. Before co-founding Cataya, Dr. Hu led the strategic planning of biotechnology R&D framework at Evonik China, and managed the execution of related projects accordingly as Head of Evonik (China) Biotechnology Center. Before joining Evonik, Dr. Hu worked as Senior Scientist at GE China Technology Center and Project Leader at Center of Industrial Biotechnology in Shanghai. Dr. Hu holds a BS in Biotechnology from Lanzhou University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS, China and University of Ulm, Germany.
Dr. Rui Wang has over 10 years of experience in bioanalytical research and applications for mass spectrometry-based omics technology. Prior to joining Cataya, Dr. Wang served as the Director of the Technical Services Department at Shanghai Applied Protein Technology Co., Ltd., which is a leader in providing mass spectrometry total solutions in China. During her tenure, she built product and operation teams and led the development of a range of proteomics and metabolomics analytical platforms, some of which received funding from the Shanghai governments. Dr. Wang holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS, China and University of Tuebingen, Germany.
Mr. Jarlon Tsang is Managing Partner and
Head of China Venture for Eight Roads, the global venture capital firm backed
by Fidelity. He has over 25 years of venture investing and operational
experience in the Silicon Valley and Asia Pacific, with the last 15 years
focused on investments in China. Mr. Tsang now serves on a number of Boards of
Eight Roads portfolio companies including DeltaHealth, Ray Medicine and HuiFu
Payment, etc. Prior to joining Eight
Roads, he was the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for H&Q
Asia Pacific, responsible for the firm’s private equity investments and its
operational activities globally. Before
this, Mr. Tsang spent over six years in the Silicon Valley practicing as a
corporate and fund formation attorney at Gunderson Dettmer, LLP and O’Melveny
& Myers LLP. His practice focused on the representation of private equity
funds, corporate M&A and securities law. Mr. Tsang received a B.S. in
Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of
California, Berkeley, and his Juris Doctor cum laude and MBA from Boston
University’s School of Law and Graduate School of Management, respectively.
Joseph is managing partner at Bits x Bites, a pioneer agrifood VC focusing on the most critical challenges in the Chinese food system. He leads new investment development, portfolio management, and serves on the boards of portfolio companies.
Joseph is a strong believer that biosciences and data sciences will drive agri-food industry innovations to improve yield gains, reduce resource demands, and produce better food. He believes VC returns are governed by a power law distribution. Thus, he is motivated to focus investments in the best-in-class scientists to translate scientific breakthroughs into vital technologies and leading enterprises of the future. Mojia Bio, EA Vision, and Future Meat Technologies are amongst the portfolios he is serving on the boards.
Joseph has 15 years of investment experience across both sell side and buy side. Prior to agrifood, he invested
in China’s international education sector. Joseph has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Business School. He is a weekend golfer and a pianist.
Mr. Yungang Huang has been at Source Code
Capital since 2017 and is currently a Partner. With over a decade of experience
in investment, Mr. Huang has a deep understanding of the evolution and impact
that new technologies have had on multiple industries and commerce. Mr. Huang
was nominated and chosen to join "The 2020 Midas Brink List" by
Forbes, "2020 F40 China Youth Investors" by PEdaily, and "2020
China's TOP20 Investors in Medical Sector" by 36Kr Media. Mr. Huang
graduated from Zhejiang University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business
Management, and was one of the first recipients of Zhejiang University’s
Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurial Management. He has led investments in
outstanding enterprises including Cataya, METiS Pharmaceuticals, SiBionics,
Deep Potential, Nutshell Therapeutics, RELX Technology, Xianglu Technology, XYZ
Robotics, Kuaidi Dache, Liepin, etc.
Mr. Ning Xue graduated from Tsinghua University and Duke University. He is Head of Healthcare at Hengxu Capital.
Mr. Xue has over ten-year experience in Healthcare sector. He led various investments such as Asieris Pharmaceuticals, Alphamab Oncology, RemeGen and Cataya Bio.
Reggie Zhang, Partner of Hongshan
Reggie focuses on seed and early stage technology investments and has over 13 years of experience in this area. He is interested in sectors such as enterprise services software, deep technologies, and consumer internet. Some of the investments he has made include Qingteng Cloud Security, Pony.ai, ShadowBot RPA, Megatronix Technology, XSKY, Trustfort, and iDreamsky etc. Before entering the venture investment field, Reggie worked in the chip and automotive industries, including Infineon China and TRW Automotive for years. Reggie graduated from Tsinghua University with a bachelor's and master's degree in automation and vehicle engineering.
