California-based biorefining and cellulosic technology company, Edeniq, has raised $16 million in funding led by I2BF Global Ventures, and including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Angeleno Group, Flint Hills Resources Renewables, The Westly Group, Cyrus Capital, and Nimes Capital. The funding will be used to support the rollout of the company’s new PATHWAY platform which produces 3% – 6% more ethanol yield at existing plants through a more complete method of converting corn kernel starch and cellulose fiber into ethanol. Edeniq owns and operates a fully integrated plant in Visalia, California with a capacity of two tons per day converting cellulosic feedstock into cellulosic sugars, and is currently constructing a 20 ton per day plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil in partnership with Usina Vale which will produce cellulosic sugars from sugarcane biomass. The funding is also able to support Edeniq’s expansion overseas. The company recently announced a partnership with China’s Global Bio-chem through which the two companies will integrate their technologies in a commercial demonstration plant in Jilin Province, China which will have the capacity to produce 50,000 tons of sugars from corn stover per year.
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