Viridos secures $5M California Competes Grant

In California, Viridos has been awarded the prestigious California Competes Grant by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). In total, the grant will allow Viridos to create more than 70 high-paying professional jobs and will bring nearly $75 million in investment to the Imperial Valley

The California Competes Grant Program aims to incentivize businesses to choose California for investment and to stimulate the creation of quality, full-time jobs in the state. Viridos succeeded through multiple elimination rounds of applicants in total asking for $3.4 billion dollars in requests with only $120 million in funding available. After two elimination rounds, Viridos was one of eight successful grant awardees in the state. To receive the grant, applicants must satisfy at least one of the following criteria: establish at least 500 net new full-time jobs, make a significant infrastructure investment, defined as spending at least $10 million in construction or renovation expenditures, or commit to growth in a high-need, high-opportunity area. 

Viridos’ expanded project will bring the investment of high-quality jobs including scientists, engineers, and technicians to California’s Imperial Valley. In total, Viridos’ project will produce an investment of nearly $75 million including total wages, capital, and induced economic benefits. The expanded Imperial Valley site will further Viridos’ mission of continued innovation by producing lab-to-field results to reduce heavy-transportation carbon emissions and increase the use of algae-based biofuels.