Ceres raises $75 million to develop dedicated energy crops
Energy crop and biotech company Ceres, Inc. announced today that it has raised $75 million through a private offering of convertible preferred stock. The late-stage financing round was led by Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm with a track record of investing in energy, alternative energy and renewables.
A seed and traits developer, Ceres plans to use the proceeds for research and product development activities in several dedicated energy crops, which are bred to maximize yields of plant biomass — the energy-rich source of next-generation biofuels based on biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes. The cellulosic biofuels industry shows promise of significant growth and is likely to become a material part of the transportation fuel market in the next decade.
Ceres has developed genomics-based tools and biotech traits for corn and other row crops which can be fully leveraged in dedicated energy crops. Within its energy crop business segment, Ceres’ development efforts cover switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus, energycane (sugarcane optimized for biomass instead of sugar) and woody species like poplar. One of its first seed products, a high-yielding switchgrass cultivar, is currently scheduled for commercial launch in 2009.
Ceres traits under development include (schematic, click to enlarge): stress tolerance; yield density; nutrient uptake; composition; structure; and enzyme production. These traits can improve the economics of biofuel production as well as the environmental benefits of energy crops, including drought tolerance and nitrogen-use efficiency:
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: plant breeding :: genomics :: biotechnology ::
The company also plans to continue the discovery and licensing of its traits to other businesses outside of energy crops.
Founded as a plant genomics company, Ceres holds one of the world’s largest proprietary collections of fully sequenced plant genes.
A seed and traits developer, Ceres plans to use the proceeds for research and product development activities in several dedicated energy crops, which are bred to maximize yields of plant biomass — the energy-rich source of next-generation biofuels based on biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes. The cellulosic biofuels industry shows promise of significant growth and is likely to become a material part of the transportation fuel market in the next decade.
Ceres has developed genomics-based tools and biotech traits for corn and other row crops which can be fully leveraged in dedicated energy crops. Within its energy crop business segment, Ceres’ development efforts cover switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus, energycane (sugarcane optimized for biomass instead of sugar) and woody species like poplar. One of its first seed products, a high-yielding switchgrass cultivar, is currently scheduled for commercial launch in 2009.
Ceres traits under development include (schematic, click to enlarge): stress tolerance; yield density; nutrient uptake; composition; structure; and enzyme production. These traits can improve the economics of biofuel production as well as the environmental benefits of energy crops, including drought tolerance and nitrogen-use efficiency:
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: plant breeding :: genomics :: biotechnology ::
We believe that Ceres is well-positioned to succeed as a leading supplier to energy crop growers and cellulosic biorefineries. The company has a strong track record in research and development and an intellectual property position that has been validated by industry-leading licensing agreements - Chansoo Joung, Warburg Pincus Managing DirectorRichard Hamilton, Ceres President and CEO, says the company now has the resources needed to expand the scale of commercialization efforts, and the independence to broadly collaborate with downstream players in the transportation fuel industry.
The company also plans to continue the discovery and licensing of its traits to other businesses outside of energy crops.
Founded as a plant genomics company, Ceres holds one of the world’s largest proprietary collections of fully sequenced plant genes.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home