Genomatica, Tate & Lyle partner for demonstration of Bio-BDO

Genomatica gains serious altitude in its path towards commercialization as Tate & Lyle, Waste Management and leading VC join in the push towards Bio-BDO

In California, Genomatica and Tate & Lyle signed a joint development agreement for the demonstration-scale production of Genomatica’s Bio-BDO (1,4-butanediol).   BDO, an intermediate chemical with a $4 billion market worldwide, is used to make spandex, automotive plastics, running shoes, and insulation.

Under the agreement, Tate & Lyle will dedicate a demonstration-scale production facility in Decatur, Illinois, for exclusive use by Genomatica.  Genomatica is ramping its process to 13,000-liter fermenters, with an integrated downstream process for BDO recovery and purification.

The demonstration plant is co-located with a corn wet mill owned and operated by Tate & Lyle. The BDO produced by the plant will be used for large-volume sampling to BDO customers eager to serve market-leading brands and retailers with green, sustainably-produced polymers and materials. Genomatica plans to be operating at its first world-scale plant in late 2013.

$45 million capital raise. The news closely follows by just two weeks a $45 million capital raise, which brought in VantagePoint Venture Partners, Bright Capital, and Waste Management as investors.  All existing investors joined the new round – Alloy Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mohr Davidow Ventures and TPG Biotech.

According to the company, the new investment will be used to complete demonstration-scale production and early commercialization plans for Genomatica’s first commercial product – in short, a sweetner and extender to the opportunities in the Tate & Lyle deal.

“Genomatica’s focus on major chemicals with large existing markets, its demonstrated technology platform, its cost-saving direct, one-step production, and its industry-relevant management team made it a compelling addition to our portfolio of transformative CleanTech companies,” said Alan Salzman, chief executive officer and managing partner at VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Bio-BDO has been successfully producing at pilot scale in 3,000-liter fermentations since the first half of 2010. Guidance from Genomatica suggest that the company has already achieved the productivity, yield and titer at pilot scale needed to assure competitive pricing with petroleum-based BDO.

The Digest’s Take: Genomatica is gaining some serious altitude in its journey towards commercialization. Though everyone will be waiting to see the data from the demonstration-scale plant, before the champagne is passed around, there’s little doubt now that the company has assembled both the capatal and the relationships to finalize that step in short order.

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