Local entrepreneur finds success with algae-based nutritional supplement

Elliott Roth in the Spira lab.

Annandale-based entrepreneur Elliott Roth, a 2011 graduate of Stuart High School, scored a spot at TechBuzz, which means he’ll have a chance to present his biotech company, Spira, to potential investors.

Spira is just one of 18 startups selected for TechBuzz, Feb. 28 in Washington, D.C. The event gives new technology-based companies a chance to make a fast-paced pitch before an audience of hundreds of business leaders, innovators, corporate strategic partners, and active investors.
 

Spira creates and sells special bubbling tanks that can be used at home to produce a high-protein green food made from a type of blue-green algae called spirulina.

The result is a nutritional supplement with “the same amount of protein as a plate of eggs,” Roth says. Spirulina is also rich in antioxidants and has no calories or carbohydrates.

It’s tasteless, so it can be flavored or combined with juice or other foods, such as pancakes or brownies, he says. “You can add it to eggs and literally have green eggs and ham.”

Roth says spirulina is particularly useful for people with dietary restrictions, such as vegans and people who are lactose intolerant or have Crohn’s disease. He eats it plain every day, primarily as an energy boost.

A Spira tank costs about $245. Roth will provide a 20 percent discount and personal delivery to Annandale Blog readers. While you can buy spirulina online or at health food stores in powder or capsule form, it’s a lot less expensive to create it yourself.

Roth came up with the idea after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015 with a degree in biomedical engineering. He stayed in Richmond but had trouble finding a job. He was running out of money, sleeping on friends’ couches, and scrounging around for food. 

“I really wanted to be able to support myself,” he says. “I wanted to focus on what really matters to me: tackling global issues through science.” He he decided to use his biotech skills to solve his own problems with food insecurity and built a lab at a friend’s garage to grow spirulina, and later on, to build a simple device so anyone can grow it at home.

Roth participated in the RebelBio biotechnology accelerator program for budding entrepreneurs in Ireland in 2016. Back in Richmond, he got a grant from Lighthouse Labs, which helped with business development and mentorship.

A year later, Spira was selected for the World Food Programme bootcamp to build a social impact model to help people in the developing world produce nutritious food supplements. The Halcyon Incubator, a D.C.-based program that funds social-conscious companies, agreed to support Spira in July 2017.

Spira has a team of three full-time people in its D.C. office, plus two part-time contractors. Roth is looking forward to Tech Buzz. He calls it “a wonderful opportunity to showcase companies through a four-minute pitch and set up future meetings with investors.”