Jai Padmakumar

Jai Padmakumar is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of 1849 bio, a biotechnology startup established in 2024. Backed by the startup accelerator Y Combinator, the three-person company focuses on engineering specialized microbes to extract trapped metals for the global mining industry. Before launching 1849 bio alongside co-founder Yongjin Park, Padmakumar established his first entrepreneurial venture during graduate school, where he directed the initial scientific development and research. He earned a doctorate in synthetic biology from the Department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed the core technology for the world's first engineered probiotic to enter human clinical trials. Having previously studied microbiology and applied mathematics at the University of Washington, his current professional focus centers entirely on leveraging synthetic biology to solve complex industrial challenges in commercial metal extraction.