Solazyme wins big with $57M for renewable oil
Solazyme, producer of renewable oil derived from algae, just raised $57 million in third-round funding to bring its total capital to more than $76 million. In addition to producing so-called green fuels, the San Bruno, Calif., company is expanding its eco-friendly chemicals business — an increasingly common move for companies in the biofuel space. It is also exploring nutritional and cosmetics opportunities.
The bulk of the funding came from VantagePoint Venture Partners, which has made a… 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
Algal fuel maker Aurora Biofuels takes on $20M
Aurora Biofuels, an Alameda, Calif. startup with plans to produce algal biofuels, has raised a substantial second round of funding to speed development.
Like most of the other algae companies that have publicly announced their plans, Aurora intends to use its oily charges to produce biodiesel, a near-copy of petroleum-based diesel fuel.
However, there are few other details on Aurora. Algae is typically grown in water, but the specifics of what kind of water and whether anything… Continue Reading
LiveFuels raises $10M to turn algae into alternative fuel
LiveFuels, a Menlo Park, Calif. company seeking to turn algae into an alternative fuel, has raised a $10 million round of capital.
The investor was David Gelbaum at the Quercus Trust, which has previously backed environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Wildlands Conservancy.
We reported earlier that LiveFuels was looking to raise the money, and ran a column by LifeFuels’ founding investor Rich Hilt about why using algae makes sense.
Why algae? Well,… Continue Reading