Gevo Closes Funding Round With Global Specialty Chemical Company LANXESS

Gevo, a privately held biobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons company, has closed a round of funding led by German specialty chemicals company LANXESS. Existing investors also participated in the round.

In connection with this financing, Gevo also announced that Dr. Ron Commander, head of the LANXESS Group’s Butyl Rubber Business Unit, will join the Gevo Board of Directors. The LANXESS investment comes after the French oil and gas giant Total invested in the Company. (Earlier post.)

We are extremely pleased to have LANXESS make a strategic investment in Gevo and appreciate their confidence in our isobutanol platform. We expect this renewable hydrocarbon feedstock will have many applications in a variety of chemical markets.

—Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo

Isobutanol is a four carbon alcohol widely used in the petrochemical and refining industries. It can be dehydrated with known processes into isobutylene, a hydrocarbon with broad applications in the chemicals and fuels markets. Production by fermentation of plant-based (renewable) carbohydrates is widely seen as a lower carbon footprint route than traditional petroleum based production. Gevo and ICM, the Company’s strategic engineering partner, completed the retrofit of ICM’s one million gallon per year ethanol demonstration plant in St. Joseph, MO to make isobutanol in September, 2009. (Earlier post.)

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of €5.06 billion in 2009 and currently around 14,300 employees in 23 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.