Gabriel James

I lead the team at Solarferm, I’m a technologist, scientist, and builder at heart. My journey has taken me from designing investment trading systems to decoding neurons and genomes to engineering carbon pathways in bacteria. At the core of it all is a simple drive: to build things that matter, to make an impact. I bring a systems thinking approach to solving complex, global challenges. I’ve seen ideas spark, scale, and sometimes fall short, not because the science or technology wasn’t sound, but because solving hard problems demands more than just vision. It takes grit, resourcefulness, collaboration, and a culture that nurtures both curiosity and execution. At Solarferm, that’s what we’re building, a place where ideas can grow into world-changing solutions. We’re redesigning the food system from the ground up, starting with sugar: the energy molecule of life and the foundation of the entire food chain. Despite its importance, sugar is often overlooked. It powers biomanufacturing, and underpins a $3T bioeconomy, yet we’re running out of ways to make it. The vision is bold: feed everyone, everywhere, sustainably.