Rivertop Renewables, Missoula’s brightest startup, is going dark

In October 2015, having secured $26 million in venture capital–a feat unprecedented for a Missoula startup–Rivertop Renewables http://www.rivertop.com/ was about to break out far beyond Montana. Then-CEO Mike Knauf was in Danville, Virginia, to help cut the ribbon at the contract facility that would make Rivertop the first company to begin commercial production of glucaric acid, a biodegradable chemical derived from plant sugars that can be used to make environmentally friendly detergents. Rivertop’s ambitions had gone global. "The sky’s the limit," Knauf told the Missoulian.

A year after that milestone, in October 2016, Rivertop cut its staff by half, and those who remained took salary cuts. Whether the company will be around to see October 2017 is an open question.

By Derek Brouwer

Full Story: https://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/the-citys-brightest-startup-is-going-dark/Content?oid=4681089