Joule has developed a CO2-to-fuel production platform that uses engineered catalysts and its modular SolarConverter® system to convert waste CO2 and sunlight directly into ethanol and diesel-range hydrocarbons in a continuous process. The company emphasizes a single-step, high-productivity approach that requires no arable land, crops, or fresh water. Joule is pursuing staged industrialization, including a near-term expansion of its production field in Hobbs, New Mexico and a planned 1,000-acre plant build-out slated to begin in 2017. In an optimal location, that plant size is described as having the potential to convert 150,000 tonnes of CO2 into 25 million gallons of ethanol or 15 million gallons of diesel per year. Management says the technology is being advanced toward commercialization and market introduction within the next few years. Financially, Joule reported closing $40 million in private equity and venture debt financing in the latest round and has raised approximately $200 million to date. Joule is advancing a Helioculture technology platform that directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO2 into infrastructure-ready diesel, ethanol and commodity chemicals without biomass feedstocks or downstream processing. The company says the platform can eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of known alternatives to fossil fuel. Joule has pilot-tested the platform for over two years and has initiated operations at its SunSprings demonstration plant. The firm is privately held and has raised over $160 million in funding to date. Joule plans to move from late-stage development into demonstration and global production of renewable fuels and chemicals, supported by newly committed capital and strategic partnerships. Joule develops a Helioculture platform and SolarConverter system that directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO2 into infrastructure-ready diesel, ethanol or commodity chemicals. The process requires no biomass feedstocks, downstream processing, or precious natural resources and is designed to yield fuels at large scale with a fraction of the land required by biomass-dependent methods. Founded in 2007 by Flagship VentureLabs and headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Joule is privately held. The company reports 11 issued patents and is pursuing global expansion while continuing technology development. Proceeds from the recent financing will fund the build-out and operation of a facility in Hobbs, New Mexico to test and optimize Helioculture and the SolarConverter at larger scales, with commissioning slated for summer 2012 and potential expansion to 1,000 acres. Joule has raised more than $110 million to date following this round. Joule is a Cambridge, MA‑based developer of a platform that converts sunlight and waste CO2 directly into liquid fuels. Its core product is a renewable solar‑fuels platform that produces fungible diesel and other liquid fuels. The company is advancing pilot operations in Leander, Texas to test its production process as it moves toward commercialization. Joule closed a $30M second round to accelerate the transition of renewable solar fuels from lab to market. The financing will also support genome engineering, bioprocessing and hardware engineering to optimize productivity and generate product samples to validate the process beyond the lab. In conjunction with the financing, Joule is transitioning its corporate name from Joule Biotechnologies, Inc. to Joule Unlimited, Inc.

Total raised

$190M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

May 2015