YC Summer 2026 (S26) company

Rise Reforming

We turn waste gases into supply-secure chemicals

About Rise Reforming

Geopolitical conflicts and natural disasters frequently expose the vulnerability of the American chemical industry. The reason? Production is centralized and fossil fuel-dependent. The solution? Localized production using an undervalued resource: biogas. The US produces enough biogas to make over $20 bn/y worth of chemicals, but 60% is wasted in low-margin applications or flared altogether. Rise Reforming is commercializing a modular process to transform this underutilized biogas on-site into cheap, supply-secure chemicals. Our beachhead market is dimethyl ether (DME), used as an aerosol propellant and a low-carbon fuel additive in propane. Our target market is methanol: an established billion $ chemical and the future of low-carbon shipping. We're doing our pilot project at a Chicagoland wastewater plant. This will be the first wastewater biogas-to-methanol demo in the Americas. We're hiring for a senior chemical process engineer. Apply here: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rise-reforming/jobs/wJ9Q9nv-senior-chemical-process-engineer

Public traction evidence

Each signal links to the public source used for attribution.

  1. Hacker News

    Launch HN: Rise Reforming (YC S26) – Turning Waste Gases into Valuable Chemicals

    Launch HN: Rise Reforming (YC S26) – Turning Waste Gases into Valuable Chemicals

  2. LinkedIn

    Rise Reforming announced joining YC S26

    Company post says Rise Reforming is joining Y Combinator's S26 batch and describes turning underutilized biogas into low-carbon chemicals.

  3. LinkedIn

    Announcing Rise Reforming

    I am excited and proud to announce that Rise Reforming, the start-up co-founded by our team, is a DOE finalist.

  4. YouTube

    Rise Reforming Launch Video

    Embedded in the official Rise Reforming YC company page.