Of greatest concern is that as financing for cleantech gets tight, the brightest startups will struggle to find early stage capital and those companies nearing the path to commercialization will find it hard to find scaling capital. Read more »
The first quarter of cleantech was a mix of good and bad news. Avis’ purchase of Zipcar and Silver Spring Networks’ long-awaited IPO finally occurring were further signs of thawing capital markets and movement in the acquisition space. However, in both situations valuations were lower than hoped, a sign of how investors view cleantech. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
Half of successful VC-backed cleantech start-ups stumble along the way. Entrepreneurs who raise big financing rounds at sky-high valuations can end up shooting themselves in the foot. Read more »
It’s official. Khosla Ventures, the firm of influential venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, has raised its $1.05 billion fourth fund and will still continue to invest as much money as it previously has done on cleantech startups. Read more »
A massive selloff of stocks back in August raised the possibility of a closing IPO window for cleantech companies. But if you were hoping for a more uplifting prognosis since, then you’re out of luck — at least for the rest of the year. Read more »
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 »
The realization that many greentech startups need more capital and time than expected to commercialize their technologies has sacked some venture capitalists’ enthusiasm for cleantech. Vinod Khosla has a message for them: chin up! There’s good money to be made and I’m doing just fine. Read more »
Next-gen biofuel and biochemical companies Genomatica and Mascoma have filed notices recently indicating that they plan to go public some time soon. But how are the other next-gen biofuel companies that have gone public in recent months now faring on the stock market? Mostly down. Read more »
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 »
After the great market sell-off yesterday, stocks are rebounding slightly on Tuesday, including many of the greentech stocks that took a beating yesterday. But most of them are only up slightly. Here’s the latest: Read more »
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 »
Biofuel companies may not get as much venture capital investments, but they sure are attracting a good number of investors in the public markets. Renewable Energy Group is turning to the public market route and on Monday said it will go public to raise up to $100 million. Read more »
While the greentech IPOs that have happened in the past year have fared decently, they’re no comparison to many of the public debuts in the works by social media companies. Zynga’s reported potential $2 billion raise could deliver five times Tesla’s combined IPO and follow-on offering. Read more »
Biofuel firm KiOR, which debuted on the Nasdaq this morning priced at $15 per share, also closed the day at $15 per share — in other words, as flat as a Britney Spear’s high note. Read more »
Biofuel startup KiOR has priced its IPO at $15 per share, below its estimated price per share of between $19 to $21. Read more »
Biofuel startup KiOr’s could raise as much as $241.50 million in an IPO on the Nasdaq, at a maximum offering price per share of $21. KiOr estimates that it will price its shares between $19 to $21 per share, and could price shares this week. Read more »
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 »
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 »
Algae oil and fuel maker Solazyme priced shares for its IPO late last night at $18 per share — above its previously estimated price range — enabling the company to raise around $198 million when it debuts on the Nasdaq on Friday. Read more »
Khosla Ventures, the firm of influential venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, is raising a new $1.05 billion fund — Khosla Ventures IV — according to an SEC filing. The filing comes just a little over a year since the firm closed on $1.3 billion. Read more »
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 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, 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 »
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 »
Greentech investor Vinod Khosla saw two of his biofuel companies IPO in recent months — Amyris and Gevo — and at the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics conference on Thursday, he told the audience that a third biofuel IPO would be filed in about 4 weeks. Read more »
Over three years ago I put together this table on 10 of Khosla Venture’s biofuel bets. Given a couple of these companies have gone public, been sold off, or stalled, I decided to look back at these firms with this updated cheat sheet. Read more »
Gevo is officially a public company. The biofuel maker priced its shares at $15 — at the high end of its range — raising $95.7 million after offering expenses, and in morning trading Gevo shares are rising. Read more »
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 »
The world’s greentech industry is likely meeting the end of 2010 with a mix of relief and trepidation. Clouds are on the horizon for global investment in renewable energy, and VCs fret about realizing returns on their existing investments. Meanwhile, China boasts the world’s largest population ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The government has always played a big role by subsidizing our transportation fuels it make them cheap. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday said it’ll continue the tradition by helping out farmers and landowners to grow and ship energy crops. Read more »
One of the possible greentech IPOs on the horizon is looking a bit bullish. This week next-gen biofuel producer Amyris amended its S-1 saying it plans to raise up to $122 million in an IPO, up slightly from its previously planned max offering of $100 million. Read more »
Algae fuel startup Solazyme already had a long list of backers — from Chevron’s VC arm to Morgan Stanley — but this week, the company says it’s added two more high profile names: investor Richard Branson and food and personal product giant Unilever. Read more »
Dutch oil giant Shell and Brazilian ethanol giant Cosan sealed the deal Wednesday on a $12 billion joint venture to turn sugarcane into pump-ready fuel. How will the massive partnership affect Codexis, Shell’s biocatalyst partner and recent entrant to the public markets? Read more »
Next-gen biofuel developer Gevo inspired chatter in the greentech world last week when it filed its S-1, planning to raise up to $150 million in an IPO. But a Lux research analyst thinks Gevo will likely raise closer to between $80 million and $100 million. Read more »
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla still remains a dominant force in shaping the next-generation of biofuel innovation and could make some of his first returns as a biofuel baron this year. Albeit, likely small returns. Read more »
Biofuel startup Gevo, which is backed by Khosla Ventures and Virgin Green Fund, filed to raise up to $150 million in an IPO late yesterday. Here’s what you need to know about Gevo’s financials, its commercialization plan, its partnerships and its backers. Read more »
Yet another biofuel startup has filed for an IPO this week, and this time its backers are Silicon Valley heavyweights. On the heels of PetroAlgae filing its S-1, Gevo, which is backed by Khosla and Virgin Fund, plans to raise up to $150 million in an IPO. Read more »
The Departments of Agriculture and Energy late yesterday announced they will be doling out a dozen grants — ranging from $1 million to $4 million each — to private sector and university research projects focused on alternative fuels and bio-based products. In total, the departments will […] Read more »
Cobalt Biofuels has raised $25 million in Series C funding for its biobutanol production process. The Mountain View, Calif.-based biofuel startup plans to use the funding to accelerate the commercialization of its low-cost biochemical butanol production process. The round was led by LSP and Pinnacle Ventures […] Read more »
