US-based sustainable energy and chemicals producer Lanzatech has secured $60m in a series D round led by Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui and supported by industrial conglomerate Siemens and financial services firm China International Capital Corporation (CICC).
Mitsui invested $20m and the round also featured Siemens Venture Capital and CICC Growth Fund, an investment fund owned by CICC, as well as existing investors Khosla Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, K1W1 and Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund. Lanzatech has now raised $139.5m in funding since it was formed in 2005.
Lanzatech is the developer of a gas fermentation platform that enables energy, fuels such as ethanol and jet fuel, and chemicals including butadiene and propylene, to be produced from waste and residues.
The company will use the funding to extend its fermentation and develop its portfolio as it gears up to open its first commercial facility in China in 2015. The plant will use off-gases from a steel mill owned by BaoSteel, which is also financing the facility, to produce fuels and chemicals.
“In a tough capital raising market I am proud that we’ve attracted funding from both existing and new investors, including several of our strategic partners,” said LanzaTech chief executive Jennifer Holmgren. “The funding validates the confidence our investors have in us, the strength of our technology, the quality of our partnerships and the opportunity to make a big impact on the global fuels and chemicals markets through capturing and reusing carbon.”