Braemer Energy Ventures and Morgan Stanley Lead $52 Million Investment in Series D Funding Round for Solazyme

Based in San Francisco, Solazyme is a renewable oil company which creates fuels from algae and has announced on Monday, August 9, 2010 that it has received an amazing $52 million in series D funding with Braemer Energy Ventures and the prominent Morgan Stanley leading the funding round. Other investors who participated in this colossal funding round include the company’s existing investors. Some of these include Lightspeed Venture Partners, the Roda Group, the Harris and Harris Group, VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Zygote Ventures. Solazyme also has strategic corporate investors interested and currently investing in it, which include CTTV Investments, LLC, which is the vc arm of Chevron. Another strategic corporate investor investing in Solazyme also includes San Ei Gen, which is a Japanese company that produces and distributes food ingredients to global markets.

Solazyme is a company that generates a wide array of products by using algal biotechnology. The company was founded in 2003 and has developed a unique technology that uses algae to create renewable fuels and other biological agents through standard fermentation in a rather quick and efficient manner. Furthermore, Solazyme’s technology can also be used to mass produce fuels and other agents that can be used in a wide variety of industries on a rather large scale. Though the primary use for these algal fuels are for biofuels that are to replace the conventional fossil fuels, the biochemicals produced by Solazyme can also be used in a wide variety of other industries as well, which range from health and wellness solutions to cosmetics and even food products.

According to the CEO of Solazyme, Jonathan Wolfson, the company’s technology and the plans to commercialize this technology is progressing at a rather quick pace. Solazyme currently has many strategic partnerships with several multinational companies in the energy sector and the US Department of Defense also. With the continued support of all the company’s investors, Solazyme looks to being able to exceed milestones, which include the development of all kinds of different oils for a wide array of different applications.

Founded in 2002, Braemer Energy Ventures was founded by entrepreneurs in the energy industry who have been successful in building powerful companies since the early 1980s. Why is it so important to focus investments on energy technology? Well, the future looks bright for a wide array of all kinds of different technologies and solutions for alternative energy as more companies are seeking to find cleaner fuels. For this reason, the principals at Braemer Energy Ventures dedicate their investments in the energy sector, especially in companies that are in the clean tech and biofuel industries. Braemer Energy Ventures primarily invests $1 to $10 million in a single funding round and also participates in syndicated funding rounds with other investors and strategic investors to add extra funding also. Some other companies in Braemer’s portfolio include Enernoc, CoalTek, Fractal Systems, Afina, Laser Light Engines, A123 Systems, and others.