California-based biotechnology and biofuels company LS9 raises US$30M in series D venture capital round to ready its leading products for commercial production, support additional development programs
Rachel Carter
SAN FRANCISCO
,
December 21, 2010
(press release)
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LS9, Inc. today announced that it has received $30 million in its latest round of funding. BlackRock, a prestigious, global-reaching firm with over $3 trillion in assets under management, led the investment round. All previous investors also participated in the round, including; Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC. The additional funds will be utilized to ready LS9's lead products for commercial production and support additional development and growth programs.
"We are very proud to welcome a firm with the size, track record and global reach of BlackRock as a new investor in LS9," said Noubar Afeyan, Chairman of the LS9 Board of Directors and Managing Partner of Flagship Ventures. "This funding round is a strong endorsement of the quality of LS9's technology, team, and ability to execute."
LS9's revolutionary technology uses a one-step fermentation process to convert renewable plant-based materials into a diverse portfolio of fuel and chemical products. LS9 has successfully operated its pilot plant in South San Francisco, California for more than two years and announced the acquisition of a larger-scale production facility in Okeechobee, Florida in January 2010. In June 2010, LS9 won the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) highest environmental honor.
"We are very pleased that this outstanding group of new and existing investors has demonstrated their commitment to LS9's mission to bring renewable chemical and fuel products to market,"said Ed Dineen newly appointed, President & Chief Executive Officer of LS9. "In particular with BlackRock the world's largest asset manager joining our investor group, and given their increasing focus on renewables, we believe this will benefit LS9 in a number of ways. With this new round of funding, LS9 will be able to accelerate implementation of our plans to commercialize our technology and grow our product portfolio."
About LS9
LS9, Inc. is a privately-held industrial biotechnology company pursuing the commercial development of renewable fuels and chemicals. LS9 is applying synthetic biology to produce proprietary biofuels that are compatible with existing fuel distribution and consumer infrastructure, as well as high-value industrial chemicals. LS9 is the pioneer in the commercial development of fermentation derived hydrocarbon biofuels and its patent-pending products are custom engineered in the lab to address immediate market needs for clean energy alternatives to petroleum. In June 2010, LS9 was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection agency's highest environmental honor for its revolutionary Renewable Petroleum(TM) technology. The company was founded in 2005 and Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures, and BlackRock among others have provided funding to date. LS9 is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. For more information about LS9 products and capabilities, please visit www.ls9.com.
Industry Intelligence Editor's Note: LS9's latest round of funding is Series D, Reuters reported Dec. 20, 2010.
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