Thursday, July 19, 2007

Think, Gevo, and corn-based ethanol under fire

[7/19 edit: The title of this post can be read several ways, in retrospect. To be clear, Think Global AS and Gevo are not under fire. rd]

  • Think Global AS, the Norwegian electric vehicle manufacturer, raised a $60mm Series B round of financing. New investors Element, RockPort, Hazel Capital and CG Holding all participated alongside existing investors Canica, Capricorn Investment Group, Wintergreen Advisors, and individual investors. Venture funding of electric vehicles is really heating up -- how long until this guy has VCs knocking on his door? Maybe this guy will buy a Think with his insurance settlement.
  • Bio-butanol developer Gevo emerged from stealth mode to announce a financing by new investor Virgin Fuels and existing investor Khosla Ventures. Jonathan Shieber at VWire reported today that the round was an "under $10mm" Series B [7/19 edit: corrected the quote]. The financing is intended to help the company "whip it good" into a pilot plant stage. If toxicity and cost issues can be addressed, biobutanol has a lot of potential as a gasoline replacement with better energy density, transportability and other benefits versus ethanol.
Other news and notes: Cleantech venture investments in China more than doubled last year, according to the Cleantech Group... Finally, a "cooler" use for cubic zirconia.

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