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Industry Innovator
Genomines
About Genomines
Genomines is a pioneering biotechnology company transforming the future of metal extraction through phytomining, which is a process that uses genetically enhanced plants to absorb valuable metals from the soil. By combining synthetic biology with environmental science, Genomines offers a sustainable, scalable alternative to traditional mining, which is often environmentally damaging and resource intensive.
Headquartered in Paris, France, the company is led by a founding team with deep expertise in plant genetics, mining engineering, and entrepreneurial innovation. Their goal is to replace destructive mining methods with cleaner, plant-based alternatives to help meet critical metal demands while restoring land, supporting biodiversity, and creating new opportunities for local communities.
With a strong scientific foundation and growing industry reputation, Genomines is well-positioned to reshape how the world thinks about resource extraction.
-7%
of total GHG
15+
years backward
6x
metal demand
Building a Business from Scratch Through Entrepreneur First
Genomines was founded through Entrepreneur First, which is a talent investment programme that backs innovative individuals before they even have an idea, team, or product. From each cohort, a limited number of 50 individuals are selected from tens of thousands of applications, based solely on talent and potential. Once accepted, participants must leave their jobs, join a group of complete strangers, form a co-founding team, and pitch an investable, world-changing business. This all needs to happen in 12 weeks, and those who don’t find a partner are out of the programme.
Dr Dali Rashid, PhD and Fabien Koutchekian met through the Paris 2021 cohort. Dali had already discovered several genes through her academic work, and Fabien was a mining engineer and experienced entrepreneur. Their shared values of environmental sustainability, community impact, and belief in biotech’s potential brought them together, as without the programme they would have never crossed paths.
Together, they explored the science of hyperaccumulation, discovered that no one was yet enhancing these plants genetically, and built a thesis for how to achieve this. By August 2021, just months after meeting, they raised $5.3M in seed funding from Lowercarbon Capital and officially launched Genomines.
A New Way to Mine
Science Behind the Approach
Genomines accelerates and enhances the capabilities of hyperaccumulator plants through precise gene editing and microbial optimisation. These plants are grown on low-value land, including polluted or post-industrial zones, where they absorb metals like nickel through their root systems.
Once harvested, the plant biomass undergoes clean processing techniques such as carbon-neutral bioleaching to recover the metals. This closed-loop system removes the need for digging, blasting, or water-intensive refining, making it a significantly cleaner alternative to traditional mining processes.
Positive Environmental & Community Benefits
By extracting heavy metals from degraded soils, the process actively detoxifies land, creating new potential for agriculture or ecological restoration. It avoids the deforestation, water pollution, and CO₂ emissions associated with traditional mining while creating green jobs and upskilling opportunities in overlooked regions.
In countries like South Africa, this model offers a way to turn land into a source of economic value and environmental recovery, benefitting the industry, the climate, and local communities.
Culture at Genomines
Collaborative and Inclusive Hiring
Hiring at Genomines is a collective experience, as candidates are invited to meet the whole team, visit the lab, and immerse themselves in how the business operates. This open-door approach ensures alignment with values, promotes inclusion, and allows both sides to build trust before an offer is made.
Skill Development and Empowerment
Personal and professional growth is taken seriously, with employees encouraged to develop soft skills like communication, public speaking, and scientific storytelling, with support programmes in place for team members less confident in any of these skills. This culture of empowerment helps everyone thrive, whether they're presenting at conferences or explaining complex biotech.
Shared Ownership and Collective Pride
At Genomines, there's a collective pride in contributing to something transformative, and this is reinforced by shared goals, team recognition, and open dialogue. Every success is celebrated, and every challenge is tackled together, making it a genuinely mission-driven environment.
Vision & Values
Genomines was founded with the clear vision to reinvent the way we extract natural resources. With the world becoming increasingly reliant on electrification, clean energy, and digital infrastructure, the need for more ethical and sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. Their ultimate goal is to become the world's first carbon-negative mining group, using sustainable and environmentally friendly methods to extract critical resources.
The company is built on values that shape leadership decisions and hiring practices. Ambition, humility, decency, and kindness are behaviours embedded throughout the business, enabling the team to scale carefully and build partnerships based on transparency, collaboration, and long-term impact.
Equity and Employee Ownership
Dali and Fabien have made a commitment to shared ownership, as all employees are granted equity in the business, creating a direct link between individual contributions and collective success.
This approach builds long-term loyalty and ensures that the company’s rapid growth doesn’t impact team cohesion. It also reflects the core belief of the founders that innovative companies are built by the combined efforts of a committed and valued team.
In a competitive tech landscape, this model of inclusive equity helps attract top talent from around the world looking to shape the future of climate tech while being fairly rewarded for it.
We are great believers, as founders that we’re not the ones who grow the company. We grow the team, and the team grows the company and this is the kind of culture we are encouraging. We’ve managed to build a team of some of the most ambitious, driven and loyal people I’ve seen in my life, they really are the pride of the company. The team we have built and how dedicated they are, how much they believe in the vision, how much they want to see it happen, it makes the whole founder – team management - team experience worth it and we never skip a moment of showcasing the team and involving them in each phase of growth.
Looking Ahead: Scaling with Purpose
As Genomines transitions from research to full-scale operations, the focus is now on commercial deployment and expanding international impact. Future growth will be guided by the same principles that have defined the early years of the business, such as a passion for science, environmental responsibility, and a respect for people and communities.
For governments, investors, and industries looking to decarbonise their supply chains, partnering with Genomines is a smart strategic move. For those looking to join, it offers a rare opportunity to be part of a disruptive initiative that is genuinely helping the planet.
Be part of the journey...
Genomines is currently experiencing an exciting period of growth and development, if you're interested in hearing more about Genomines plans for the future and potential opportunities to join them on their journey as a partner or employee, please get in touch.