Rive Technology is the latest company backed by venture capitalists to improve the production process of gasoline, despite widespread concern about global warming caused by gasoline consumption.
Rive improves the catalytic cracking process used to convert oil into gasoline, and has raised $8.37 million in a first round of capital, according to VentureWire (subscription required).
The Cambridge, Mass. company got the funding from Charles River Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, and undisclosed seed investors.
Silicon Valley's Kleiner Perkins, a well-known venture capital firm, has also backed oil/gasoline companies.