September 19, 2007
AMYRIS BIOTECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES $70 MILLION SERIES B ROUND
Prominent Investors Include DAG Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and TPG Ventures
Strong Endorsement of Technology Pioneer at Forefront of Developing No-Compromise Biofuels
Emeryville, CA - September 19, 2007 - Amyris Biotechnologies, an innovator in the
development of renewable hydrocarbon biofuels, today announced that it closed the first
tranche of its $70 million Series B funding. Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG
Ventures) led the financing and was joined by existing Series A investors, including
Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and TPG Ventures. The Series B
funding will be used to further the development and scale up of its technology for the
production of three transportation biofuels: bio-gasoline, bio-diesel, and bio-jet, and to
support business initiatives to enable Amyris to bring its biofuels to market as early as
2010.
"Amyris has not only a break-through technology but a clearly defined strategy to
commercialize a promising slate of next-generation biofuels that could have a profound
impact on the transportation market," said R. Thomas Goodrich at DAG Ventures. "We
are investing with strong confidence in what Amyris is creating as well as the
management and scientific team the company is putting in place to execute on its
vision."
"No-compromise transportation fuels derived from renewable sources hold substantial
promise for meeting the tremendous need for alternative energy sources in the future,"
said John Melo, CEO of Amyris. "We have already succeeded in creating these biofuels
in our lab. We are delighted with the strong interest in our Series B funding which will
enable us to continue the research and scale-up of our technology and to implement our
business model as the first biofuels company to go from production to customer."
Amyris pioneered a unique technology platform that allows it to use a variety of
environmentally-friendly renewable feedstocks including sugarcane, corn and cellulose,
to produce high-value compounds. This technology has been proven in Amyris’ earlier
non-profit project, funded through a grant to the Institute for One World Health from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to reduce the production cost of artemisinin-based
anti-malarial drugs. Using the same technology platform, Amyris is now developing
capabilities to produce a slate of high-performing hydrocarbon transportation biofuels
that are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and compatible with current engines and
distribution infrastructure.
"Amyris is designing better biofuels from designer bugs" said John Doerr, partner at
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. "This is a big deal because Amyris' cost competitive
biofuels will work with existing engines without compromising performance and will have
a lower carbon footprint. This financing will help Amyris scale with speed."
Amyris expects to close the second tranche of its Series B financing by the end of 2007.
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