Carolyn Fritz
About Carolyn Fritz
Carolyn Fritz has spent her career building biotechnology businesses, with a focus on fermentation-based products. She holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, an M.S. from The George Washington University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University.
From 1993 to 1999 at Cargill she built an ag biotechnology and food technology business that commercialized functional canola oils. From 1999 to 2004 at Dow Chemical she built a renewable epoxy coating and soy polyol business and a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing business. She also sat on the board of Innovase, a Dow Chemical and Diversa industrial enzyme joint venture, from 2002 to 2004.
From 2004 to 2014 she was CEO of Allylix, a synthetic biology company. She built it from a start-up, raised $34 million in venture financing and commercialized its first two products in flavor and fragrance and insect control. Allylix was sold to the European biotech company Evolva in 2014. She also served on the Biotechnology Industry Organization board from 2007 to 2014.
She has chaired DMC Biotechnologies since May 2018. She is also a board member of CelluComp Ltd and a strategic advisor to Brightseed. Other public roles include Executive in Residence at Lewis & Clark AgriFood, Lead Board Director at Holiferm and advisor to ExoPolymer.
Little is public. Crunchbase lists one personal investment, a Series A in Allylix, the company she led, and one exit, the Allylix sale. It lists no lead investments. Crunchbase also shows a partner investment in a Matterworks Series A led by Lewis & Clark Capital. Her LinkedIn profile lists Matterworks. No check sizes or other angel deals are public.
No AI investments by Fritz are publicly documented. She is a strategic advisor to Brightseed, which Crunchbase describes as a phytochemical AI company. That is an advisory role, and no investment in Brightseed is listed.
Her public activity centers on early-stage industrial and agricultural biotechnology, synthetic biology, fermentation and food technology. She serves on early-stage company boards and is an operating partner at a venture capital firm. She is based in the San Diego area (Carlsbad on LinkedIn). She has not published a check size or stage preference.
- Allylix: synthetic biology company making terpene products for flavor, fragrance and insect control. She was CEO from 2004 to 2014, and Crunchbase lists her Series A investment. Evolva acquired it in 2014.
- Matterworks: Crunchbase lists a Series A partner investment led by Lewis & Clark Capital. It appears on her LinkedIn profile. Her personal stake is not public.
- crunchbase.com/person/carolyn-fritz
- dmcbio.com/dmc-announces-appointment-of-carolyn-fritz-to-board-of-dire
- foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2014/11/18/synthetic-biology-firm-Evolva
- theorg.com/org/lewis-clark-agrifood/org-chart/carolyn-fritz
- theorg.com/org/holiferm/org-chart/carolyn-fritz
- exopolymer.com/news
- monarchjointventure.org/about-us/leadership-staff/carolyn-fritz
- linkedin.com/in/carolyn-fritz-62a316
Investing activity
Carolyn Fritz has made 1 investment according to Crunchbase across 1 portfolio company, and has seen 1 exit.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Carolyn Fritz
Is Carolyn Fritz an angel investor?
Crunchbase lists one personal investment, a Series A in Allylix, the company she led as CEO. Her public profile shows her mainly as an operator, board chair and advisor. She is also an operating partner at a VC firm.
What is Carolyn Fritz's background?
She built businesses at Cargill and Dow Chemical, then was CEO of Allylix from 2004 to 2014. She now chairs DMC Biotechnologies and sits on the CelluComp board.
Does Carolyn Fritz invest in AI startups?
No AI investments are publicly documented. She advises Brightseed, a phytochemical AI company. Her work is mostly in synthetic biology, fermentation and industrial biotech.
What is Carolyn Fritz's check size?
No check size is public. Crunchbase does not disclose amounts for her investments.
Should I pitch Carolyn Fritz?
She is most relevant to founders in biotech, fermentation, food technology or bio-based materials, especially where AI is applied to those fields. Her public record shows board and advisory roles more than frequent angel deals.
Where can I find Carolyn Fritz online?
She has a LinkedIn profile and a Crunchbase page. No personal website or X account was found.
How can founders reach Carolyn Fritz?
Founders on Lounge can see Carolyn Fritz's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Carolyn Fritz to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.