Proterro, Inc., an Ewing, NJ-based company making sugar instead of extracting it from crops, closed a $3.5m financing.
The round was led by existing investor Braemar Energy Ventures, with participation from new investors Cultivian Ventures and Middleland Capital and other existing investors Battelle Ventures and its affiliate Innovation Valley Partners. In conjunction with the funding, Ron Meeusen, Cultivian’s founder, joined Proterro’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the capital to continue to work on optimizing the genetic engineering of the microorganism and adding to its patent portfolio, as well as to accelerate business partnerships, through piloting a full-scale photobioreactor and completing designs for our demonstration-scale facility.
Led by CEO Kef Kasdin, Proterro combines its core microorganism technology with its patent-pending, high-density, modular, solid-phase photobioreactor for scalable production of noncellulosic, clean sucrose.
FinSMEs
18/12/2012