In case you were thinking your vote counted in Kior’s annual meeting
The funny little thing about shareholder voting at biofuel company Kior. Read more »
Google-backed Cool Planet hopes to raise (a lot of) money for biofuel plant
A biofuel startup with some stellar investors is making some big claims about its technology and production costs. But it will have to raise some serious money to prove itself. Read more »
Biochemical company Elevance raises $104M
Despite that venture funding for cleantech is cooling off, some companies are still able to get money for growth. For example, biochemical company Elevance Renewable Sciences has raised a $104 million Series E round from oil giant Total’s investing arm, and Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad. Read more »
A push for cheaper, safer natural gas cars
President Obama wants more natural gas development, and with it he wants to see more natural gas powered cars on American streets. He announced Thursday a $30 million R&D fund to develop technologies that will make natural gas cars cheaper and safer to drive and refuel. Read more »
Alberta, Khosla loan biofuel company KiOR $75M
Next-gen biofuel company KiOR has long planned to raise more money to get its first commercial-scale biofuel facilities off the ground. On Friday morning the company revealed that it has raised a new $75 million loan from existing investors Alberta Investment Management and Khosla Ventures. Read more »
LanzaTech raises $56M, targets Asia with biofuel tech
Asia, with its rapidly growing number of car owners and large pollution problems, could very well be the biggest market for biofuels and green chemicals one day. LanzaTech, which announced Monday it has raised $55.8 million, is certainly finding more willing customers and partners Asia. Read more »
Hacking solutions to the world’s resource problem
This weekend in New York City, dozens of developers gathered for the second Cleanweb Hackathon, where programmers spent the weekend building mobile and web apps around new ways to manage energy. The event is the latest sign the ecosystem around clean technology is changing. Read more »
Subscriber Content
The perils of cleantech investing: KiOR and the long-term, high-risk view
One of the difficulties with investing in cleantech startups is that investors sometimes need to take very long term views of the companies they back, despite that companies can be risky. Next-gen biofuel company KiOR is a prime example of this long term, high risk phenomenon. The reality is that the liquidity of KiOR’s IPO could be locked up for a long time, potentially many years down the road, until — and if — the company scales up and meets expectations. This research note examines KiOR’s place in the market and what it means for other early-stage companies when it comes to investment. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Amyris, BIOeCON and Range Fuels and Solazyme. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Joule says its amassed over $110M for solar biofuel hybrid
Looks like investors are still willing to fund pre-commercial next-gen biofuel startups. Joule — the startup behind the unusual hybrid solar-biofuel technology that launched back in 2009 — announced it has raised a third round of funding of $70 million, bringing its total funding to $110 million. Read more »
Oil giant BP backs CoolPlanet BioFuels
Oil giant BP has invested in biofuel startup CoolPlanet BioFuels, according to an announcement on Thursday. CoolPlanet BioFuels is the biofuel startup you have never heard of but that has unusually famous investors like GE, Google, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. Read more »
What’s up with Google and biomass power?
Out of all of Google’s close to $1 billion in clean power projects, turning biomass into energy seems like the least relevant technology to Google’s core business. But Google has made a few small investments into biomass projects, including a hog waste to energy project. Read more »
Biochemical startup BioAmber files for an IPO of up to $150M
Yet another company using plants and biomass to replace petroleum products is looking to go public. On Monday morning, startup BioAmber announced that it has filed for an IPO that could raise up to $150 million. Read more »
A shocker: Next-gen biofuels not likely to meet U.S. mandates
Biofuels were envisioned to help to make the world a better place, but here comes a National Research Council report on Tuesday that casts doubt on the environmental and economic benefits of biofuels and the U.S.’s ability to meet its own production mandates. Read more »
Kleiner-backed biofuel startup Renmatix comes out of stealth
Kleiner Perkins has another biofuel and biochemical company up its sleeve. On Tuesday, a Kleiner-backed startup called Renmatix, which makes sugar from biomass that can be turned into biofuel and biochemicals, came out of stealth during an event in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Read more »
Biofuel firm Mascoma plans to raise up to $100M in IPO
Yet another Khosla Ventures-backed biofuel company has filed to go public. On Friday cellulosic ethanol company Mascoma filed an S-1, indicating it plans to raise a maximum of $100 million in an IPO. Read more »
Genomatica’s IPO: By the numbers
Turning renewable materials such as plants into useful chemicals seems a great idea, particularly when these green chemicals can replace compounds made from crude oil and natural gas. Genomatica, which filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday, certainly hopes investors will agree. Read more »
Today in Green IT: Honing the right cleantech message
Honing the right message about the benefits of clean power is harder than it looks. That’s the theme for Today in Green IT — our daily look at what the curator of our research service, Adam Lesser, has been reading and thinking about. Read more »
Obama’s $510M bet to boost biofuels for the military
To promote biofuel production, the U.S. government is becoming both the investor and customer. The White House announced Tuesday a $510 million investment to speed up biofuel production for the military and beyond. Read more »
Biofuel maker KiOR faces questions over funding
Freshly minted as a public company, biofuel producer KiOR reported Thursday that it brought in no revenues and widened its losses for the second quarter. It also faced questions about raising money for a processing plant when the economy is still struggling. Read more »
No DOE loan guarantee for KiOR, at least not this year
There will be no loan guarantee for recently public biofuel company KiOR, at least this year. According to correspondence with the SEC, KiOR put its application for 2011 on hold in May, with plans to roll it over to 2012 — assuming the program gets funded for 2012. Read more »
Greentech stocks crash in market sell-off, too
Tech stocks took a beating on Monday morning, the first day of trading after Standard & Poor downgraded the credit ratings of credit agencies. At the same time, greentech stocks — from solar to biofuels to smart grid — fell alongside the weak macro economic news. Read more »
Algae company Solazyme reports revenue & losses up
Algae oil company Solazyme, which went public in May of this year, reported both revenue and losses up for the second quarter of the year. At the same time, the company said it expects to produce 500,000 metric tons of algae oil by 2015. Read more »
Feds offer $105M loan guarantee for “Project Liberty” biofuel plant
Poet’s so-called “Project Liberty” biofuel plant, which will use corn waste instead of edible corn, is getting some support from the U.S. government. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it will offer Poet a $105 million loan guarantee to build out Project Liberty in Iowa. Read more »
KiOR prices IPO at low end at $15 per share
Biofuel startup KiOR has priced its IPO at $15 per share, below its estimated price per share of between $19 to $21. Read more »
Waste-to-Fuel Startup Enerkem Raises $60M From Valero, Investors
Waste to fuel startup Enerkem already had trash king Waste Management on its side — now Enerkem has scored backing from oil refiner giant Valero. Enerkem announced it has raised $60 million from Valero, along with existing investors like Waste Management and Braemar Energy Ventures. Read more »
Biofuel Maker Gevo Starts Retrofitting Old Ethanol Plant
Recently-public biofuel and chemical maker Gevo is holding the official ground breaking ceremony for its first commercial-scale project, a retrofit of an old ethanol plant in Luverne, Minn. on Tuesday. Read more »
Who Wins in the Solazyme IPO?
This morning, as algae oil maker Solazyme made its debut on the Nasdaq, the company’s co-founders and investors are popping the champagne corks on pricing shares at the high end at $18 per share. Who made good in Solazyme’s debut? Hint: The Roda Group, co-founders and Braemar. Read more »
Oil Giant BP Backs Biofuel Startup Verdezyne
Biofuel and biochemical startup Verdezyne lands investment from British oil giant BP and Dutch biochemicals company DSM — yet another biotech startup teaming up with big boys to bring green fuels and chemicals to bigger scale. Read more »
Despite IPOs, Next-Gen Biofuels Still Creeping Forward in 2011
Despite a series of successful biofuel IPOs recently, and a number of biofuel IPOs in the pipeline, the production of next-gen biofuels, in any kind of volumes that would make a dent in the transportation sector, seems to be creeping, very slowly forward. Read more »
KiOR Lands Chevron JV as Biocrude Buyer
KiOR, the biofuel startup that’s planning a $100 million IPO this year and seeking a $1 billion federal loan guarantee, has just landed a second sizable potential customer: Catchlight Energy, a JV between subsidiaries of oil giant Chevron and forest products giant Weyerhaeuser. Read more »
Amyris Goes Industrial Scale with Bio-Chemical
Amyris has opened its first industrial scale facility to turn sugarcane syrup into Biofene, a form of the industrial chemical farnesene, which is a fragrant hydrocarbon that’s used to make cosmetics and lubricants. It’s a big step, though not quite yet to commercial-scale biofuel production. Read more »
KiOR’s S-1: By the Numbers
KiOR, the Khosla-backed startup that says it can make low-carbon bio-crude at rock-bottom prices, plans to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. But what does it plan to do with the money? Read more »
Biofuel Startup KiOR Seeks to Raise up to $100M in IPO
Biocrude startup KiOR filed for a $100 million IPO on Monday, laying out just how it hopes its process for turning wood chips into a crude oil substitute could compete against the oil industry on price per gallon. Read more »
Startup Turns Plastic-to-Crude Oil, Gets VC Cash
Trash king Waste Management has joined a $22 million investment in startup Agilyx, which has technology to turn plastic otherwise headed for the landfill into a synthetic crude oil. The garbage and recycling company has one of the more interesting investing strategies out there. Read more »
KiOR Lands Hunt Refining as Biocrude Buyer
Khosla-backed startup KiOR has a new customer for the biocrude it hopes to start producing in 2012 — Hunt Refining Co. It’s an important step for a startup seeking $1 billion in federal loan guarantees. Hunt has agreed to buy an unspecified amount of product. Read more »
KiOR Seeks $1B DOE Loan Guarantee
Khosla-backed bio-crude startup KiOR is seeking a $1 billion loan guarantee from the DOE. The company announced a term sheet Thursday, which may or may not lead to an award, but if secured, will be crucial to the company’s plans to scale up production. Read more »
Energy Chief: The Long March to U.S. Clean Power Goals
Energy Secretary Steve Chu laid out near- to long-term research and deployment plans to meeting goals set by President Obama in his state of the union speech. Aside from solar, electric cars and energy efficiency measures, Chu also is bullish about nuclear power. Read more »
Feds Promise $571 Million in Biofuel Loan Guarantees
Biofuel production nationwide has been woefully behind schedule as would-be producers struggle to just get their first commercial plants rolling. The U.S. government wants to help and on Thursday announced loan guarantee commitments totaling $571 million for Coskata, Enerkem, and a JV from Valero. Read more »
Gevo Lowers IPO Target to $100M
Biofuel startup Gevo has lowered its upcoming IPO to $13 to $15 per share. That’s about $100 million, or $89 million after fees, less than the $150 million it targeted in August, but close to what analysts have predicted. Read more »
Investors Loved Wind, Solar, Efficiency in 2010
Investors loved the wind energy sector, and they showed it by blowing the most investment dollars that way in 2010. They also were most busy with energy efficiency deals, the number of which surpassed other cleantech categories last year, according to a U.S. market report by Peachtree Capital Advisors. Read more »
