2026 Activate Green Ticket Winner
Activate and MBC BioLabs are pleased to announce Oleo and Atelas Biosciences as the winners of the 2026 Activate Green Ticket, recognizing two outstanding early-stage startups advancing innovative technologies to address pressing planetary health challenges.
Created through a partnership between Activate and MBC BioLabs, the Activate Green Ticket supports science-driven startups developing breakthrough solutions across climate, sustainability, industrial biotechnology, agriculture, carbon management, and related fields. Following a competitive application process and finalist presentations to an expert panel of judges, Oleo and Atelas Biosciences were selected for their exceptional scientific innovation, strong technical foundations, and potential for meaningful environmental impact.
As Green Ticket winners, Oleo and Atelas Biosciences will receive one year of laboratory space and access to MBC BioLabs’ shared scientific infrastructure, equipment, and entrepreneurial community at the company’s San Carlos campus. The award is designed to accelerate technology development by providing founders with the resources and collaborative environment needed to reach critical technical and commercial milestones.
“The quality of this year’s applicants was exceptional,” said Rachel Hatano, Ph.D., Director of Scientific Operations at MBC BioLabs. “Oleo and Atelas Biosciences stood out for their compelling scientific approaches and clear vision for addressing significant planetary health challenges. We’re excited to welcome them into the MBC BioLabs community and look forward to supporting their growth.”
“Activate and MBC BioLabs are helping move breakthrough science from discovery to deployment—work that matters most when it’s tackling some of today’s most urgent environmental challenges,” said Caitlin Cutter, Chief of Staff at Activate. “Oleo and Atelas Biosciences exemplify the kind of bold, innovative thinking that has the potential to drive real-world impact, and we’re excited to see what they build.”
The winners were announced during the Planetary Health Block Party at MBC BioLabs in San Carlos, which brought together founders, researchers, investors, and partners advancing technologies to improve human and planetary health.
Oleo produces cost-advantaged, carbon-negative oil feedstocks for renewable fuels by converting low-value biomass waste into drop-in oils compatible with existing refining infrastructure. By integrating proprietary microwave-assisted hydrolysis with microbial fermentation, Oleo enables renewable oils at the scale and economics required to decarbonize aviation and heavy transport.
“The Green Ticket provides Oleo with critical resources at a pivotal stage of our growth,” said Gabriella Dwek, CEO of Oleo. “It allows us to continue advancing our biological platform in the lab while we focus on scaling our technology through the development of our demonstration facility.”
Atelas Biosciences is developing CADI, a platform that inserts large DNA sequences at a chosen location in the genome without cutting both strands of DNA. For agriculture, this makes it possible to move beneficial genes between related plant varieties—a faster route to traits like drought tolerance and disease resistance within cisgenic and non-GMO breeding frameworks.
“Plant breeders have spent a century moving useful traits between related varieties, and the limit has always been how slowly and imprecisely it can be done. The Green Ticket gives us the bench space and equipment to push that work much further this year, alongside a community solving adjacent problems—which is exactly where this kind of science moves fastest.” — Jeff Graf, Ph.D., Co-founder & CEO, Atelas Biosciences.
We are so excited to work together, Oleo and Atelas Biosciences!
About Activate
Activate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to turning scientific discoveries into real-world impact by equipping scientists and engineers with world-class resources, training, and community to bring their work from discovery to deployment. Since 2015, Activate’s flagship fellowship has supported nearly 350 fellows across the United States, who have launched more than 275 companies and secured more than $5.5 billion in follow-on funding.
About MBC BioLabs
MBC BioLabs provides flexible laboratory space, shared scientific equipment, operational support, and a vibrant entrepreneurial community for early-stage life science companies. Since its founding, MBC BioLabs has helped hundreds of startups launch and grow, accelerating innovation across biotechnology, therapeutics, diagnostics, and planetary health.