50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy for 2009-10: #10, Mascoma
Based in: New Hampshire
Technology: Consolidated Bio-Processing
Fuel type: Ethanol
Major investors: Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Atlas Venture, General Catalyst Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, VantagePoint Venture Partners, General Motors, Marathon Oil
Past milestones (08-09):
First demonstration of CBP technology
Opening of demonstration facility in Rome, NY
Funding from the State of Michigan for commercial ethanol production facility
3 major milestone goals (2010-11)
Breaking ground on Michigan commercial production facility
Transfer of advanced CBP technology to our demonstration plant in Rome NY
Completing next round of funding
Business model: Owner / Partner
Fuel cost: Mascoma Corporation is actively involved in research. Not producing ethanol commercially. According to models, the final cost of fuel continues to decrease.
Competitive edge: The unique technology developed by Mascoma Corporation uses yeast and bacteria that are engineered to produce large quantities of the enzymes necessary to break down the cellulose and ferment the resulting sugars into ethanol. Combining these two steps (enzymatic digestion and fermentation) significantly reduces costs by eliminating the need for enzyme produced in a separate refinery. This process, called Consolidated Bioprocessing or “CBP”, will ultimately enable the conversion of the solar energy contained in plants to ethanol in just a few days.
Alliances and Partnerships: GM, Chevron, Marathon Oil, US DOE, State of NY, State of Michigan
Development stage: Demonstration
50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy for 2009-10: #10, Mascoma is a post from: Biofuels Digest
