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 »
Cleantech VC and the state of the IPO market
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 »
Next-gen biofuels making slow, slow, slow progress in 2013
Companies that are still looking to produce biofuels from plant waste (and not corn) are making slow, but steady progress on milestones in 2013. Read more »
5 things the Reuters story on cleantech, Kleiner, and Doerr missed
Cleantech VC investing is hard and Kleiner Perkins has made some not smart bets in the sector. But the overall trends of population growth and resources management are still strong and most VCs have now learned new investing styles like to follow the clean web. Read more »
Khosla and Condi Rice cozy up over emerging markets
Venture firms have a long history of partnering with high profile former politicians, to help grease the wheels of the regulatory frameworks. Khosla Ventures says it will work with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to help its startups in emerging markets. Read more »
KiOR hits milestone of making biocrude in Mississippi
Next-gen biofuel company KiOR has started up production of its biocrude at its plant in Columbus, Mississippi. It’s an important advancement for an industry that’s had major delays and setbacks. Read more »
KiOR to start up next-gen biofuel plant next month
KiOR, a next-gen biofuel startup backed by Khosla Ventures, says it will turn on its first factory next month and will churn out diesel and gasoline made from biomass (plant waste, wood, etc) before the end of the year. Read more »
KiOR: Yep, still no revenues
In case you were wondering how KiOR, the biofuel company backed by Khosla Ventures, is coming along, the firm announced its fourth quarter and full 2011 year earnings on Monday. And yep, the company is still in a pre-revenue state. 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 »
The perils of cleantech investing: KiOR & 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. Read more »
Groupon’s $12.6B valuation compared to greentech (it’s sad)
Looks like Groupon will go public on Friday morning at $20 per share, giving it a valuation of $12.6 billion for its online coupon business. Let’s compare it to some of the greentech startups and big energy firms and try not to get disturbed. Read more »
Khosla raises over $1B for fourth fund
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 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 »
Vinod Khosla: Greentech has generated huge profits
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 »
How next-gen biofuels are faring on the stock market
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 »
Genomatica files for IPO for making green chemicals
Green chemical developer Genomatica has filed for an initial public offering to seek up to $100 million, according to its government filing on Wednesday. The company engineers processes to create chemical from renewable sources for making a variety of products, from clothing to auto parts. Read more »
Despite struggles, next-gen biofuels continue to find funding
Despite the lack of results, next-gen biofuel companies continue to receive a significant amount of both government and VC support. At what point will the funding transform into advanced biofuels being produced at scale? 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 »
Did the greentech IPO window just slam shut?
In the first half of 2011, a variety of cleantech firms both filed for IPOs and made their debuts on the public markets. But in the wake of the market sell-off this week, that IPO window could be swiftly shutting. Read more »
Greentech stocks rebound, but only partially
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 »
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 »
Biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group files for $100M IPO
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 »
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 »
Cleantech investing drops by a third and embraces efficiency
Cleantech venture investments dropped by a third in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year, according to the Cleantech Group. However, energy efficiency technologies such as LED lighting and energy management software are still getting some love from private investors. Read more »
The tale of two IPOs: cleantech vs social media
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 closes flat in IPO
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 »
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 »
Condi Rice to join board of biofuel startup KiOr
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to join the board of biofuel startup KiOr in July. Not coincidentally, the news comes the week that KiOr is reportedly planning to official price its IPO, which could raise up to $241 million on the Nasdaq. Read more »
KiOR doubles IPO ambitions, to price this week
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 »
Khosla Raising Over $1B in Fourth Fund
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 »
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 »
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 »
Google Backs Biofuels, via CoolPlanetBiofuels
Google Ventures has made its first biofuels investment. On Thursday afternoon, the venture arm of the search giant announced that it has invested in a startup called CoolPlanetBiofuels, which makes what the company calls “negative carbon fuels.” Bill Maris of Google Ventures explains. 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 »
Khosla: We’re Filing Another Biofuel IPO in 4 Weeks or So
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 »
