Nolux

Recognized under Tier 6 — Food Systems, Nolux is a US company, spun out of research at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware, developing light-independent food production based on carbon dioxide electrocatalysis: an artificial process that converts water, electricity, and captured CO2 into acetate, which in turn feeds yeast, algae, and fungal organisms such as mushrooms without photosynthesis or sunlight. The team's approach was a finalist in NASA and the Canadian Space Agency's Deep Space Food Challenge, selected from more than 300 applicants for its potential to feed astronauts on extended missions. Nolux remains an early-stage venture, supported through programs including the Activate fellowship, and is working to expand its output beyond fungal and microbial foods toward fruit and vegetable crops. Its light-independent process directly targets a core constraint of deep-space and subsurface habitats: producing food where sunlight is limited, unreliable, or too costly to supply artificially at scale.