Amyris takes $24.7M for renewable biofuels
Amyris Biotechnologies, one of the best-funded companies deriving biofuels from synthetic microorganisms, has raised $24.75 million of a targeted $62 million third round of venture financing, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Emeryville, Calif. company has raised an impressive $120 million before now.
Both Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have invested in Amyris — also setting it apart as one of the companies to watch in the… Continue Reading
LanzaTech taps carbon monoxide emissions to produce ethanol
At first glance, LanzaTech’s plan to use bacterial fermentation to convert waste gas emissions into bio-ethanol doesn’t seem all that different from the waste-to-biofuel processes developed by other startups, like SequesCO and GreenFuel Technologies.
Trap a large quantity of emissions from a power plant, pipe them to algae or bacteria contained in either a pond or bioreactor, add a few nutrients and voila! You now have a ready supply of biofuels. Unlike its competitors, however, Auckland,… Continue Reading
SequesCO combines CO2 sequestration with biofuel production
Sequesco joins a growing list of startups that are using synthetic biology to custom-produce advanced biofuels. But unlike competitors LS9 and Amyris, which are engineering microbes to make hydrocarbon-based fuels from various plant biomass sources, it uses waste carbon dioxide as its primary feedstock.
The idea is to pump CO2 from large emitters like coal plants or biorefineries into the firm’s bioreactors, in which large colonies of bacteria would use the greenhouse gas and a nutrient… Continue Reading
Gevo raises another $17M for synthetic biofuels
Gevo, the Pasadena, Calif., based developer of synthetic biofuels just wrapped up a $17 million third round of funding. New investors Burrill & Co. and Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund joined cleantech regulars Khosla Ventures and Virgin Green Fund; the biofuel start-up has already raised over $30 million since the beginning of last year.
Like competitors LS9, OPX Biotechnologies and Amyris (see our prior coverage here, here and here), Gevo is trying to change the face… Continue Reading
Amyris joins forces with Crystalsev to produce sugary fuels
A combination of rising food prices and environmental concerns has helped spark a backlash against biofuels. Once viewed as a key component of any successful climate mitigation strategy, biofuels — particularly those derived from food crops, such as corn ethanol — have seen their popularity wane in recent months as scientists and policymakers alike have come to realize that their costs may far outstrip their perceived benefits.
Brazil has arguably become the poster child for biofuel… Continue Reading
Amyris raising $70M for fuel to replace petroleum
Amyris, an Emeryville, Calif. company using synthetic biology to create a fuel to replace petroleum, said it has raised the first portion of a planned $70 million second round of funding.
Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG Ventures) led the financing, and was joined by earlier investors Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and TPG Ventures, which together had invested $20 million last year.
The company, which was vague about its plans when we wrote about… Continue Reading
Craig Venter wants to patent some life forms
Craig Venter, the controversial entrepreneur who led the private-sector effort to sequence the human genome, is now seeking a patent for a “minimal genome,” a type of synthetic biology aimed at creating life forms, or living “machines.”
It may even be used for creating ethanol or other biofuels, something that several other companies are working on.
The US patent application (see the application here), filed by Hamilton Smith and colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute… Continue Reading
Amyris gets $20M from high-profile investors to find alternative fuel
Two high-profile Silicon Valley investors known for their aggressive support of alternative energy have helped pump $20 million into a new Emeryville biology company called Amyris.
The investment is notable because Amyris is using synthetic biology to search for an ideal alternative fuel to replace petroleum. It is looking for a molecule similar to ethanol, a biofuel derived from plants such as corn, but even better. News of the investment plans came in June, but… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple secrets, India hype, Cheney’s visit, VideoEgg, Zillow,
Here is a shotgun of the latest stuff in raging Silicon Valley, leading of course with video:
VideoEgg gets easier — VideoEgg, a site that lets you download software so you can post video on any site, has partnered to make the process easier at key sites. Users at Bebo, Dogster, Hi5, AOL, Current.TV and Tagged can post video content from mobile or other devices to those sites, and VideoEgg’s small browser plug-in that makes it easy… Continue Reading