By Dave Skibinski, CEO, FiberX
I’ll be honest with you. When we started FiberX, winning a black-tie gala award in a grand concert hall wasn’t exactly on the vision board.
Getting corn stalks out of a field in Northwest Indiana and turning them into materials that outperform plastics? That was the vision. And it still is.
But last Thursday night at The Palladium in Carmel, something happened that stopped me in my tracks. FiberX was recognized at the 2026 Mira Awards for our breakthrough approach to replacing traditional polymers and forever chemicals with high-performance, plant-based alternatives. We won the AgriNovus Indiana AgBioscience Innovation Award — and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good.
What the Mira Awards Are
For those outside Indiana’s tech community, a little context. The Mira Awards are Indiana’s biggest night for tech and innovation — the only Oscar-like celebration of our innovation economy. Since 1999, they’ve recognized the state’s top innovators, disruptors, and game-changers. Only 386 Mira Awards have ever been presented, selected from thousands of nominations.
That number — 386 — is worth sitting with. This isn’t a participation trophy. This year alone, TechPoint received 231 submissions and selected 17 winners from a field of 106 finalists, with a team of independent judges evaluating each finalist through live presentations.
We were one of 17
What the Judges Said
I’m not going to paraphrase this one, because the judges said it better than I could. They praised FiberX’s strong research partnerships with Purdue University, deep industry traction, and meaningful environmental impact — specifically our ability to reduce agricultural waste while maintaining quality and cost competitiveness. They noted that with the potential to transform multiple markets, FiberX stands out as a powerful example of Indiana-rooted innovation shaping the future of sustainable materials.
“Indiana-rooted innovation.” I keep coming back to that phrase. Because that’s exactly what this is.
We’re based in Merrillville. Our raw material grows in the fields of Indiana farmers we know by name. Our technology comes out of Purdue University, forty-five minutes down I-65. This award belongs to Indiana as much as it belongs to us.
Who This Really Belongs To
I want to be clear about something: the FiberX team didn’t win this alone.
It belongs to our farmer partners who understood early on that what gets left in the field after harvest isn’t waste — it’s value waiting to be unlocked. They’ve been patient with us, honest with us, and genuinely excited about what we’re building together.
It belongs to the researchers at Purdue University who developed the lignin extraction technology we’re now turning into real products for real customers. Science without commercial application is just interesting. Science with a market behind it changes industries.
It belongs to our customers — the manufacturers willing to test new materials, push us on performance, and hold us accountable to delivering something that actually works. Their standards keep us sharp.
And it belongs to our investors and supporters — Jacaranda Partners, Purdue University Innovation Ventures, and Elevate Ventures — who put real money behind what was, at the time, a pretty audacious idea.
What We’re Actually Building
People ask me all the time what FiberX does, and I try to keep it simple: we take what remains after corn is harvested — the stalks, leaves, and husks — and we turn it into industrial materials that are stronger, more versatile, and increasingly cost-competitive with the petroleum-based alternatives they’re meant to replace.
Our fiber can double the strength of plastic products and is already finding its way into packaging, textiles, and consumer goods. Our lignin-first biorefinery, built on Purdue technology, is on a path to producing bio-based chemicals that the automotive, construction, and specialty coatings industries have been quietly waiting for. We’re not displacing a minor corner of the market — the addressable opportunity here runs into the hundreds of billions.
That’s not hype. That’s the science talking.
A Word on Indiana
One more thing I want to say, and I mean it genuinely.
There’s a temptation — especially in deep tech — to think you have to be in Boston or the Bay Area to be taken seriously. I’ve never believed that, and this award is one more reason why.
TechPoint’s president and CEO Eric Christopher put it well: Indiana’s innovators are “driving productivity, supporting entrepreneurs, and strengthening communities statewide, while setting the pace for what comes next.”
We’re proud to be doing exactly that. From Merrillville.
If you want to follow what we’re building — or if you’re in a market that uses plastics, resins, coatings, or specialty chemicals and you’re wondering whether there’s a better feedstock option — we’d love to talk.
Find us at fiberxproducts.com or drop us a line at info@fiberxproducts.com.
And to every other finalist and winner at this year’s Mira Awards: congratulations. The work you’re doing matters.
— Dave Skibinski, CEO, FiberX
