HutanBio appoints new CEO – strengthening senior leadership for commercial scale-up

HutanBio today announced the appointment of Manshu Agarwal as chief executive officer as it enters its next phase of commercial scale-up.
The appointment further strengthens HutanBio’s senior leadership and governance as it prepares for first commercial deployment of its algal biofuel platform.
Manshu joins HutanBio at a pivotal point in its development, as the company transitions from pilot-scale validation to commercial delivery.
He brings more than 20 years’ experience building and scaling climate and deep-tech companies, with deep domain expertise in algae, biofuels, and the global energy transition. His career spans entrepreneurship, venture investing, and senior operational leadership.
Manshu has held senior roles at Sapphire Energy and Viridos (formerly Synthetic Genomics, backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures), and most recently served as a technology and innovation advisor at OQ.
HutanBio’s technology is underpinned by more than two decades of algal biotechnology and bioengineering research conducted across the University of Cambridge and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). This scientific foundation has delivered defensible breakthroughs, most notably the discovery and optimisation of the proprietary marine microalgae strain Sphaerica and the development of a high-yield, scalable production platform.

Dr John Archer, founder and chief scientific officer of HutanBio, commented: “We spent more than a decade going back to first principles - getting the biology right and proving it can perform reliably at scale.
“What excites me about Manshu joining is that he has worked across multiple algal technologies and understands first-hand the constraints that have held the sector back. His recognition of the step-change performance achieved by our team, and the global scale potential of the platform, is a powerful validation of the science and reinforces my belief that HBx represents a new generation of biofuels.”
Commenting on his appointment, Manshu said: “HutanBio has something genuinely rare: breakthrough biology that works at scale, combined with a cost-engineered, automated growth platform. When those elements come together with the right leadership and capital strategy, the opportunity for global deployment becomes very real.”