US-based negative carbon fuel developer CoolPlanet BioFuels secured an undisclosed amount of series C funding on Thursday from investors including British Petroleum’s corporate venturing fund, BP Technology Ventures, as well as energy corporations General Electric (GE) and ConocoPhillips, and corporate venturing fund Google Ventures.
The round was led by Shea Ventures, the venture capital division of property and construction corporation JF Shea, while further participation came from utility NRG (which is also a limited partner with ConocoPhillips and GE in venture capital fund Energy Technology Ventures) and North Bridge Venture Partners.
According to its SEC filings, CoolPlanet’s series B round raised $17.8m in February of this year (though a source put the figure at closer to $20m a month after) while a 2009 series A round fetched $3.5m. Its series C round has been launched a year ahead of schedule due to CoolPlanet’s desire to accelerate the development of its modular fuel production plants.
The low cost plants could eventually number into the hundreds and would produce biomass fuel in collaboration with CoolPlanet’s strategic partners. CoolPlanet has stated several energy companies are testing the process and expects to collect additional partners to BP and ConocoPhillips in 2012.