Chevron chips in $25M for biofuel company LS9
LS9, perhaps the company to watch synthesizing biofuels and chemicals from organic feedstocks like switchgrass, has brought in $25 million in a new round of capital from Chevron Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures.
This is the second big win, the South San… Continue Reading
Mascoma teams with Chevron to turn ethanol byproduct into diesel and jet fuel
Soon after announcing funding for Soane Energy — a company working to clean up its oil extraction projects — Chevron released news that it will partner (PDF) with biofuel maker Mascoma to turn lignin, a byproduct of ethanol production, into diesel and jet fuel.
If the… Continue Reading
Alvine gobbles $21.5M to treat gastrointestinal disease
Alvine Pharmaceuticals, developer of drugs for autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, has raised $21.5 million more in first-round funding, bringing the total to $47.5 million. The San Carlos, Calif. received the expansion from Panorama Capital, InterWest Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, Black River Asset Management… Continue Reading
GE participates in $14.2M for Advanced Electron Beams
General Electric announced today that it has poured more cash into Advanced Electron Beams (AEB), a company working on making electron beam technology more energy efficient. With electron beams used widely to instigate industrial and manufacturing chemical reactions, the company’s offerings could add up to… Continue Reading
Joule Biotech squeezes liquid fuel out of sunlight
Joule Biotechnologies burst out of stealth today with a recipe for a new alternative fuel source — a recipe calling for greenhouse gases and sunlight. Dubbed “helioculture,” the process actually centers on microorganisms. It turns out that adding CO2 and sun causes its special photosynthetic… Continue Reading
Syngas startup Ze-gen takes $20M to torch trash
Ze-gen, a company that plans to round up waste from construction sites and turn it into gases that can be used to generate electricity, has won $20 million in funding to help build its first full-size facility.
Based in Boston, Mass., Ze-gen has been moving quickly… Continue Reading
T2 Biosystems brings in $10.8M for diagnostics
T2 Biosystems, a company working to develop new diagnostic methods, received $10.8 million in second-round financing from new investors In-Q-Tel (which also helps fund the CIA, incidentally) and Partners Healthcare, and existing investors Flagship Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based company… Continue Reading
Alvine Pharmaceuticals raises $26 million for disease research
San Carlos, Calif. company Alvine Pharmaceuticals recently added $5 million to its first venture round, bringing total funding to $26 million, according to VentureWire.
Alvine’s research focuses on treatment for autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, and it started clinical trials in February for its treatment of celiac… Continue Reading
ZoomInfo spins off its ad platform into Bizo, a new company
The business information search engine ZoomInfo has spun off its advertising business into a new company, Bizo Inc.
ZoomInfo started supplying the information it collects to other sites and advertising last year when it rolled out its ad platform. This allowed it to utilize the data… Continue Reading
Big companies line up to invest in cellulosic — Mascoma is latest beneficiary, gets $81M
With oil past $120 a barrel and possibly headed to $200, cellulosic ethanol companies are looking like a smarter investment choice every day. Following the increase of Range Fuels’ second funding to $166 million, its competitor Mascoma has pulled the wraps off an $81 million… Continue Reading
Mascoma takes on $50 million more for cellulosic ethanol
Mascoma, an East Coast biofuel startup with a multi-pronged approach to commercializing cellulosic ethanol, has just become one of the most heavily funded companies of its kind with a $50 million funding reported by peHUB.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., Mascoma is in the process of building… Continue Reading
Monday deal fever: Fraud Sciences, Trolltech, E-Dialog, Anywhere.fm all acquired
A number of companies decided to compete with DEMO for media coverage today by announcing some rather large acquisitions:
Paypal ponied up $170 million for Fraud Sciences, which prevents online fraud;
Nokia paid $153 million for Trolltech, which helps developers build cross-platform applications;
GSI Commerce gave $157 million for E-Dialog,… Continue Reading
Novomer, an eco-friendly plastic maker, raises $6.6M
updated
Just as cars guzzle oil and spew out carbon dioxide, so does plastic manufacturing. Worse, landfills are overflowing with plastics that won’t degrade for hundreds of years, and harmful chemicals from some plastics threaten living organisms or eat away at the ozone layer.
Quite a few… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007
Featured companies: Acceleron Pharma, Bledsoe Brace Systems, Eurobiobiz, Genoptix, Harmony Information Systems, ImmuneWorks, Pasteuria Bioscience, Renal CarePartners, Quantum Genomics, Synergy Software, Vitreo Retinal Technology
UPDATED: Expanded items on Genoptix and Acceleron Pharma.
Diagnostics biotech Genoptix prices IPO above range, raises up to $98M — Genoptix became one of the… Continue Reading
LS9 takes $15M to synthesize petroleum alternative
LS9, a Silicon Valley startup that hopes its technology may one day help replace petroleum, has taken $15 million more in funding.
The San Carlos, Calif. company uses synthetic biology to modify microorganisms in order to produce high-energy fuels, including to power cars (see our previous… Continue Reading
Kovio raises $19.4M for printed electronics
Kovio, a Sunnyvale, Calif. developer of semiconductor products using thin-film technologies, or “printed electronics,” has raised $19.5 million in the first part of a fourth (series D) round of funding, according to a press release.
Pinnacle Ventures led the deal, which included previous investors Bessemer Venture… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007
(UPDATED at 6:40pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Nereus Phramaceuticals, KFx Medical, NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals, Adnexus Therapeutics, Masimo, Biofisica, Aegera Therapeutics, LymphoSign, InfuScience, Palmetto Infusion Services
Nereus Pharma raises $45M for ocean-derived cancer drugs — San Diego’s Nereus Pharmaceuticals, a biotech that searches for cancer drugs in marine microbes, raised… Continue Reading
Cancer-drug maker Aveo raises $53M
Aveo Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass. cancer-drug company, raised $53 million in a fourth round of funding from a coalition of mostly blue-chip life-science investors.
New investors included Biogen Idec, Bessemer Venture Partners, Merlin BioMed Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Vatera Holdings, an investment vehicle… Continue Reading
Black Duck raises $12 million for open source IP protection
Black Duck, the Waltham, Mass. company that tracks how companies use software in order to protect open source code and intellectual property rights for software makers, has raised $12 million more in a third round funding.
The round was led by Focus Ventures, a Silicon Valley… Continue Reading
SunPower buys PowerLight, creates solar giant
Solar panel maker SunPower has agreed to acquire solar intaller PowerLight for about $332.5 million, creating a solar giant.
The purchase will bolster the wave of investments in solar; it proves there’s a way to make profits. PowerLight had received about $20 million in backing from… Continue Reading