Energy crop company Ceres raises $75M
Ceres, a Thousand Oaks, Calif. company seeking ways to produce plant biomass more efficiently for use in a new generation of alternative fuels, has raised a $75 million in financing.
Ceres has studied and collected sequenced plant genes to find fuels for cellulosic ethanol production, in order to create a more efficient and cleaner version of ethanol — which it hopes will replace gasoline as a transportation fuel. It’s just one several well-backed companies pursuing this.
Ceres works with switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus, energycane and other woody species. One of its first seed products, a high-yielding switchgrass cultivar, is scheduled for commercial launch in 2009.
The financing was led by Warburg Pincus, and was made in the form of debt that will later convert into stock.
The company has previously raised $77 million including from Artal Luxembourg, Oxford Bioscience Partners, GIMV, H&Q, KBC, Monsanto Co., Oppenheimer Funds, QuestMark Partners, Towerbrook Capital Partner and Soros.
Back in 2001, the company’s private value was nearly $200 million, but no word on what it is now.
Next Story: NEA names Rohini Chakravarthy principal, to make wireless investments
Previous Story: DECA, bringing Hollywood online, raises $5M
About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
