• Edeniq

  Participated · Series B · Apr 2010

  Edeniq develops processes and technologies, including its Pathway Technology, to produce and measure low-cost cellulosic ethanol that can be integrated into existing biorefineries with no capital investment. The company sells or licenses its solutions to U.S. ethanol plants and positions them as operationally efficient ways to increase ethanol output. Edeniq expects to more than double average customer cellulosic ethanol production over the coming year through plant optimization and technology enhancements being introduced as early as Q3 2017. Customers currently average just over 1% cellulosic ethanol and a 2% lift in total ethanol production, while best-performing plants have exceeded 2% cellulosic ethanol and a 3% lift in total production. The company’s pipeline has reached 27 plants; four are registered with the EPA for D3 RIN generation and the remainder have applied or are in trial validation. Registered co-producing plants represent approximately 400 million gallons of total ethanol production and have generated well over $1 million in D3 RIN credits less than halfway through the calendar year. Edeniq states a 120 million gallon-per-year plant can increase revenue by up to $10 million or more through integration of its technology without additional capex. Edeniq develops Pathway, a capital-light technology that produces low-cost cellulosic sugars and cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber and integrates with existing fermenters at ethanol plants. The company is a leader in analytical methods required for EPA registration of co-produced cellulosic ethanol; three ethanol plants received EPA cellulosic registrations after deploying Pathway within the past four months. Edeniq sells or licenses its technologies to U.S. biorefineries and plans to use recent financing to support rapid growth in its Pathway cellulosic ethanol business, accelerate customer acquisition, and add resources for existing customers. The company is investing in sales, field services, laboratory services, and R&D and is developing technology enhancements to potentially increase the amount of cellulosic ethanol eligible for D3 RINs and other regulatory incentives. Edeniq was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, California, with a field office in Omaha, Nebraska. Edeniq develops combined mechanical and biological technologies to break down biomass and liberate cellulosic sugars that can be converted into ethanol, chemicals, and other products. Its PATHWAY™ Platform increases ethanol yield at existing plants by 3–6% through more complete conversion of starch and corn kernel fiber. The company owns and operates a two ton per day pilot plant in Visalia, California, and is constructing a 20 ton per day demonstration plant with Usina Vale in São Paulo State, Brazil. Edeniq has a partnership with Global Bio-chem to integrate technologies in a commercial demonstration plant in Jilin Province, China, targeting production of 50,000 metric tons per year of sugars from corn stover. The company sells or licenses its capital-light, operationally efficient solutions to biorefineries in the U.S. and Brazil and plans to roll out new products and expand into new markets. Edeniq raised more than $16 million in equity to support PATHWAY™ expansion and international demonstration projects. Edeniq builds patented mechanical and biological systems — including its Cellunator mills and Pathway enzymes — that break down corn and non-food plant material into sugars for cellulosic ethanol and other renewable products. Its technologies are designed as low‑cost, bolt‑on additions to existing corn ethanol plants or for integration into new cellulosic facilities. The company operates a pilot plant in Visalia, California (built with Logos Technologies under a $25M program 80% funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) that can process two dry tons per day of feedstock and produce about 50,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol. Edeniq says it is working with facilities across California and the U.S., creating the potential for hundreds of millions of gallons of cellulosic ethanol production. The company recently secured a $3.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission to advance enhancements to its cellulosic ethanol technology. Edeniq has also raised over $32 million in additional funding and entered a partnership with Flint Hills Resources Renewables. The company is headquartered in Visalia, CA, with locations in Omaha, Nebraska and the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. EdeniQ develops processes and products that unlock sugars from renewable natural resources to supply raw material for sustainable chemical and fuel production. The company is led by President and CEO Brian Thome, CTO Dr. Thomas Griffin, VP of Business Development Peter Kilner, and CFO Scott Janssen. EdeniQ is based in Visalia, California and also has locations in Omaha, Nebraska and the state of Sao Paolo in Brazil. It recently raised over $30m in additional debt and equity financing. The equity round included existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cyrus Capital, The Westly Group, Angeleno Group, I2BF Global Ventures and Element Partners, alongside new investor Flint Hills Resources Renewables LLC. As part of the financing, Jeremy Bezdek of Flint Hills Resources joined EdeniQ's board of directors.

• Alien Technology

  Led · Equity · Mar 2010

  Alien Technology provides UHF RFID integrated circuits (ICs), tags, readers and professional services to industries including consumer packaged goods, retail apparel, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense. Founded in 1994 and based in Morgan Hill, California, the company also maintains facilities in the Dayton, Ohio region and a sales office in Shanghai, China. It is led by newly appointed CEO Chris Chang. The company announced it received a $35M investment. Backers include new investor Shanghai Ruizhang Investment alongside current investors. The company said the new funds will enable it to accelerate growth through increased development of new technologies. Alien Technology is a provider of UHF RFID products and services. The company supplies UHF RFID products and offers related services to customers across multiple regions. It is headquartered in Morgan Hill, California, and operates Alien Technology Asia in South Korea and an RFID Solutions Center in the Dayton, Ohio region. Alien also maintains sales offices in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. According to the article, the company secured an aggregate of $10.9M in new financing. The round was led by existing investors Advanced Equities, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and Sunbridge Partners. Alien Technology designs and manufactures radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip tags, inlays and high-value readers, using a "fluidic self-assembly" packaging method developed by founder John S. Smith. The company operates factories in Fargo, N.D. and San Jose and is based in Morgan Hill, Calif. Its manufacturing can package up to two million chips per hour, far exceeding conventional methods, and it supplies both tags and readers so customers can implement end-to-end RFID tracking systems. Alien has seen strong recent top-line momentum: fiscal 2008 revenues grew more than 50% year-over-year, unit volume of assembled inlays rose over 76%, and the company set revenue records in each of the past four quarters. The business targets pallet/item tracking and asset-tracking use cases such as court-file and drug-shipment tracking, but faces competition from chip makers and inlay/reader suppliers including Impinj, NXP, Avery Dennison, UPM Raflatac and Sirit, as well as barcode competitors like YottaMark. The company employs about 200 people and has a history of heavy cash consumption, having burned through approximately $302 million to date.

No current team members are available.