Enerkem sets new Canadian record for biofuels funding round

In Quebec, Enerkem announced today the closing of US$30 million in additional financing, including over US$15 million in equity and $15 million in debt. New equity investors include The Westly Group, Fondacion CSN, and Quince Associates L.P., while the debt has concurrently come from an undisclosed source.

In conjunction with the US$60 million that the company raised in June, Enerkem has set a record for early-stage financing in the Canadian biofuels sector. The US$60 million tranche represented equity financing from Valero Energy Corp., Waste Management, Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, and Cycle Capital.

The US$90 million will go towards advancing Enerkem’s commercial sector projects, which include two fully-functional Quebec facilities.  In addition, Enerkem recently began construction of a municipal waste-to-biofuels plant in Alberta and expects to break ground soon on a Mississippi facility with US$130 million in financial support from the USDA and the DOE.

Mike Jackson, Principal at the Westly Group, said of Enerkem, “with an innovative technology, strategic investors in both upstream and downstream industries, and commercial projects under construction and under development, Enerkem is well positioned to capitalize on the emerging trends in the transportation fuels and waste industries.”

Enerkem is Canada’s largest waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company. Using municipal solid waste, for which the company has long-term contracts with  the company produces ethanol, methanol, and green chemicals such as acetates. Also, research is underway to produce syngas, synthetic diesel, and Dimethyl Ether (DME).

Yesterday, Enerkem was named one of the Hottest 30 Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials and has been a perennial high-ranker in Biofuels Digest’s Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy.

Speaking about the success of the financing, Vincent Chornet, President and CEO of Enerkem said, “this financing along with our full-scale commercial plants underway solidify our company’s leading position in the growing clean transportation fuels and biochemicals market.”

Tags: enerkem, quebec, waste

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