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LS9 raises $30M to support commercialization

LS9, Inc., a synthetic biology company developing fermentation-derived drop-in renewable fuels and chemicals, announced that it has received $30 million in its latest round of funding. The additional funds will be utilized to ready LS9’s lead products for commercial production and support additional development and growth programs.

BlackRock led the investment round. All previous investors also participated in the round, including; Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC.

LS9 uses a one-step fermentation process to convert renewable plant-based materials into a diverse portfolio of fuel and chemical products. The company has successfully operated its pilot plant in South San Francisco, California for more than two years and announced the acquisition of a larger-scale production facility in Okeechobee, Florida in January 2010. In June 2010, LS9 won the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. (Earlier post.)

The company also recently appointed Ed Dineen as President and CEO. Dineen was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of LyondellBasell Industries, one of the world’s largest petrochemical, fuels and polymers companies with annual revenues of more than $30 billion, sales in more than 100 countries, and 59 manufacturing sites in 18 countries on five continents.

We are very pleased that this outstanding group of new and existing investors has demonstrated their commitment to LS9’s mission to bring renewable chemical and fuel products to market. In particular with BlackRock the world’s largest asset manager joining our investor group, and given their increasing focus on renewables, we believe this will benefit LS9 in a number of ways. With this new round of funding, LS9 will be able to accelerate implementation of our plans to commercialize our technology and grow our product portfolio.

—Ed Dineen

(A hat-tip to Matt!)

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