HutanBio starts 2026 with new CEO after Beastall bows out
HutanBio is preparing for the first commercial deployment of its algal biofuel platform. It is developing HBx Bio Oil, a net-negative carbon biofuel for long-distance transportation.
The company's proprietary marine microalgae strain, Sphaerica, was discovered and optimised by founders John Archer, Noor Azlin Mokhtar and Suhaiza Jamhor, delivering up to 10x yield improvements over previous algae and oil crops.
HutanBio's automated energy platform operates on seawater in desert environments, using CO2 and sunlight to produce sustainable low carbon fuels for marine, aviation and heavy land transport. Founded in 2019, the platform is modular in design and cost engineered for rapid global scale.
The new CEO 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 DeepTech companies, with deep domain expertise in algae, biofuels, and the global energy transition. His career spans entrepreneurship, venture investing and senior operational leadership
Agarwal 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.
Critically, he has led commercial development and capital formation across multiple high-growth ventures, including raising over $100 million to deliver a first-of-a-kind algae-based sustainable aviation fuel facility. His appointment reflects the increasing maturity of HutanBio as it evolves from a science-led venture into a commercially focused scale-up and directly aligns with the ambition to deliver a FOAK commercial algal biofuel platform from 2026 onwards.
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, said: “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.”
HutanBio’s leadership team combines deep scientific capability with global commercial and strategic expertise. Chair Dominic Emery joined the company in 2025, initially serving on the technical advisory team before being appointed to the role. He has almost four decades of global energy leadership, having held senior roles at bp including Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy during a period of significant corporate transformation. His experience spans governance, capital allocation, and large-scale strategic execution.
Dominic Emery, Chair of HutanBio, commented: “Advanced fuels can only scale when performance, cost, and governance hold up in the real world. HutanBio continue to prove that they can deliver on all three. Manshu’s experience in financing and bringing first-of-a-kind algal fuel projects to market makes him the perfect addition as we move from validation to full commercial deployment.”