Aurora Algae aims for US$100M raise
In California, Aurora Algae’s Matthew Caspari, managing director of Australian operations, said that the company is driving to raise $100 million from existing and new private investors by mid-year, and is aligning at an IPO later in the year.
The company recently launched its demonstration plant in Karratha, Western Australia, and is expected to complete its first commercial-scale facility in the same Western Australian location by early 2013.
Caspari said that existing investors such as Gabriel Venture Partners are expected to return in this round, plus an un-named strategic investor.
Optimizing algae
In California, Aurora Algae’s laboratories have implemented homologous recombination, a powerful strain development tool, for optimization of their industrial algal crops.
This technology is a game changer for the company, as it vastly expedites research cycles, reducing the time and costs associated with studying biosynthetic pathways and subsequently manipulating those pathways.
The proprietary process for the application of this technique is the subject of a peer-reviewed article in the upcoming issue of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Background article: http://www.allaboutfeed.net/background/algae-as-blooming-solution-in-food-fuel-debate-12650.html
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