Amyris Biotechnologies tacks on $21M for biofuel development
One of the most highly valued biofuel startups in the country, Amyris Biotechnologies, has taken on an additional $21 million as part of its previously announced $70 million second round of funding, according to VentureWire.
Amyris is a synthetic biology company that is working on microorganisms to create analogs of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Earlier this year, it joined a venture in Brazil, Crystalsev, to make fuel from sugar in that country.
The company was valued at $470 million for the round, and has now taken $91 million as part of the funding. It also raised $20 million in 2006.
The names of the new investors were not disclosed, but the company told VentureWire that the round, originally capped at $70 million, remains open. Amyris is based in Emeryville, Calif.
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About the Author, Chris Morrison
Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.