Myriant leverages a proprietary technology platform to produce renewable chemicals from non-food, low-cost sugars, including commercial-scale D(-) lactic acid and bio-succinic acid. The company’s flagship Lake Providence, Louisiana plant is a 30 million pound-per-year bio-succinic acid facility with construction on schedule for a planned commercial start-up in early 2013. Myriant has signed multi-year customer contracts for the plant’s expected annual production and is planning a 140 million pound expansion in the United States. The firm highlights that its high-purity bio-succinic acid is a chemical drop-in replacement for petroleum-based succinic acid and is cost-competitive and more environmentally friendly. Financial support for the project includes a $25 million private bond placement under the USDA B&I loan guarantee program, a $50 million Department of Energy cooperative agreement, and a $10 million grant from the Lake Providence Port Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation. The Lake Providence project is expected to create roughly 40–50 direct highly skilled jobs, ~250 construction jobs, and an estimated 300 indirect jobs. Myriant develops and produces high-value bio-based chemicals using proprietary microbial biotechnology and low-cost cellulosic sugars. The company produces D(-) lactic acid at commercial scale (started June 2008) and planned a 30 million pound succinic acid plant at the Port of Lake Providence beginning in early 2011. Myriant’s succinic acid is made via fermentation of sugars and is positioned as a replacement for petroleum-derived chemicals used in food, pharmaceuticals, surfactants, plastics, fibers and biodegradable solvents. Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, the company leverages a team of molecular biologists, engineers and chemists to commercialize specialty renewable chemicals. Myriant received a $60 million strategic investment to support expansion and the creation of biochemical plants in North America and Asia and to advance commercialization. Management characterized the partnership as validation of the technology and an important step toward global expansion.

Total raised

$85M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Jun 2012