When Dale Hobson joined RYAM as Senior Director of Business Development in 2024, the Biomaterials business unit already had a pipeline of promising products. Second-Generation (2G) Bioethanol and lignin were being produced in France, while the United States was generating turpentine and Hot Caustic Extract (HCE). The potential was clear—but the structure needed to scale was not yet in place.
“Products alone don’t build a business,” Dale explains. “It takes systems, capital, and alignment across every function to turn potential into progress.”
Putting these business practices in place became even more critical in November 2024, when RYAM secured €67 million in green financing—a pivotal moment that sparked the creation of RYAM BioNova, an internal venture platform designed to launch and grow early-stage biomaterials technologies. Its initial focus includes developing Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS), Crude Tall Oil (CTO), and establishing 2G Bioethanol operations at Fernandina Beach.
RYAM BioNova: A Platform for Purposeful Growth
RYAM BioNova isn’t a standalone business. It’s a dynamic, cross-functional platform within the Biomaterials business unit—built to attract investment, manage risk, and establish the frameworks needed to commercialize breakthrough innovations.
Each venture presents a unique set of challenges—customers, infrastructure, legal structures, and processes that often don’t fit within RYAM’s existing models. To overcome them, RYAM BioNova relies on collaboration across Research & Development, Engineering, and corporate functions including Finance, Legal, Talent, Procurement, and IT.
Innovation at RYAM: Built Across Every Function
At RYAM, innovation doesn’t live in a single department or lab. It’s embedded across the organization—in the people, systems, and practices that bring ideas to life. RYAM BioNova is a clear example of how RYAM’s corporate teams are enabling innovation through partnership and execution. This support is demonstrated through:
- Legal innovation: Agile contracting frameworks for emerging partnerships
- Accounting innovation: Structures to track joint venture investments and early-stage returns
- Talent innovation: Team design and incentive alignment to support growth
- Systems innovation: Integration of new ventures into enterprise tools like SAP
This isn’t a retrospective case study, it’s an evolving build. With RYAM BioNova, ventures like XOS, CTO, and 2G Bioethanol are moving from concept to commercial reality through collective effort.
Meet Innovators Driving RYAM BioNova’s Growth
Vici Salmond
Director, Accounting & ERP
Developed financial frameworks to support RYAM BioNova investments and monitor early-stage activity within SAP.
Erica Ogden
Manager, Global Sourcing
Sourced critical CTO project equipment from a decommissioned mill in Scandinavia—dramatically reducing capital costs.
Isabelle Chevallier
Lead Accountant
Constructed cost models and viability assessments that shaped key RYAM BioNova decisions.
Jennifer Holcomb
Paralegal
Built legal systems to manage contracts, NDAs, and new agreements—enabling flexibility while safeguarding the company’s intellectual property and ensuring legal compliance.
Innovation starts here—and it starts everywhere.
At RYAM, building the future of biomaterials is a shared mission. And with RYAM BioNova, that future is already taking shape.
