Monday, November 13, 2006

Ethanol company Mascoma brews up $30M in round two

Cambridge's Mascoma Corp., a maker of new processes for the conversion of cellulose-based biomass to ethanol, has raised $30 million in its second round of venture funding, officials say.

The new round, which was led by General Catalyst Partners, will be used to fund research and development as well as build new demonstration facilities that will expand its current engineering facilities in Nashua, N.H. Additional participants include new investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Atlas Venture and Pinnacle Ventures. Previous investors Khosla Ventures and Flagship Ventures also participated.

The company received a $4 million first round of funding earlier in 2006.

While the use of corn as a fuel for the development of ethanol has been gaining ground among alternative-energy companies, Mascoma aims to replicate the process using other biomass sources such as grass, wood and forestry wastes. The technology is based on research by Dartmouth College professor Lee Lynd, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Mascoma.