Thousand Oaks, California, USA
July 8, 2010
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. announced today that it has completed a private offering of convertible preferred stock. The proceeds will be used, in part, to expand the company’s research and commercialization activities in the advanced biofuels and biomass-to-power markets.
Over the past three years the company has launched its energy grass seed business in the United States and expanded its research and commercialization activities into the biopower, bio-based chemical and sugar-to-biofuel markets, including joint projects with electric utilities and next-generation biorefineries. The company also grew its international presence, and is deploying its seeds and technology in Brazil. Ceres President and CEO Richard Hamilton says that Ceres plans to build a leadership position in each of these markets.
“The common denominator among these diverse renewable energy markets is having a scalable and economic source of feedstock,” said Hamilton. “We believe that dedicated energy grasses are uniquely capable of supplying the raw materials that will be needed for long-term growth.”
“In addition to the operational benefits, this new funding will allow us to maintain our independence to collaborate with participants across the energy and agricultural industries – a freedom that has proven highly valuable as we help assemble value chains among growers, bioenergy companies and technology providers,” said Hamilton. “These joint projects are proving critical to validating our technology and products with the nascent bioenergy industry.”
Ceres currently markets improved seed varieties of switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum under its Blade Energy Crops brand, and has additional research programs in sweet sorghum and miscanthus. The California-based company’s biotech pipeline includes traits that can improve the economics of bioenergy production, make greater use of marginal land and enhance the environmental benefits of energy grasses. In 2009, Ceres received a prestigious ARPA-E award from the U.S. Department of Energy to evaluate a trait that increases yield and reduces fertilizer requirements.
The financing round was led by Artal Luxembourg and Ambergate Trust, and included European investment company Gimv, among others. Other aspects of the offering and its participants were not disclosed.
Ceres, Inc. is a leading developer of energy grasses that can be planted as feedstocks for advanced biofuels, biopower and bio-based products. Its development efforts include switchgrass, high-biomass sorghum, sweet sorghum, miscanthus and energycane. Ceres holds one of the world’s largest proprietary collections of fully sequenced plant genes.
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