Mitsui Leads Investment in LanzaTech's $60M Series D Round

ROSELLE, IL--(Marketwired - Mar 26, 2014) - LanzaTech, a company changing the way the world thinks about waste carbon, has attracted new strategic investors in key target markets. LanzaTech's disruptive carbon capture and utilization technology provides a capital-efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional carbon capture and storage (CCS). Waste gas streams captured from industrial factories can be directly converted on-site to low-carbon liquid fuels and chemicals by adding a LanzaTech facility at the source, offering the potential to reduce global CO₂ levels while accessing multi-billion dollar commodities markets. 

"In a tough capital raising market I am proud that we've attracted funding from both existing and new investors, including several of our strategic partners," said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. "The funding validates the confidence our investors have in us, the strength of our technology, the quality of our partnerships and the opportunity to make a big impact on the global fuels and chemicals markets through capturing and reusing carbon."

LanzaTech's gas fermentation platform disrupts the current highly centralized global energy system by enabling the regional production of low-cost energy from local wastes and residues, including gases as varied as industrial flue gas, gasified biomass wastes and residues, biogas, and high-CO₂ stranded natural gas.

LanzaTech's flexible approach has attracted global partners and investors from a variety of sectors who recognize the need to bring a stable and plentiful energy supply to a global population in an economically, socially and environmentally conscious manner. LanzaTech's first commercial facility, fully financed by BaoSteel, one of the largest steel manufacturers in China, is expected to be operational in 2015 and will use steel mill off gases to produce fuels and chemicals. 

Led by Mitsui & Co. with a $20M investment, the $60M round includes new investors Siemens via its Venture Capital unit (SFS VC), CICC Growth Capital Fund I, L.P. and existing investors: Khosla Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, K1W1 and the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund.

The investment will be used to extend LanzaTech's core gas fermentation platform and further develop LanzaTech's product portfolio. To date, products include fuels such as ethanol or jet fuel and commodity chemicals such as butadiene used in nylon production or propylene used in plastics manufacture.

"LanzaTech's unique ability to reduce or eliminate the release of waste gases like CO and CO₂ has dramatic consequences on the global fight against air pollution -- it meets a survival-driven need for places like China and India," said Andrew Chung, a partner at Khosla Ventures who serves on the board of LanzaTech. "LanzaTech offers an effective and capital efficient carbon capture and reuse solution, which is why we have been able to fund commercialization via major industrial partners. It's cleantech done right."

"LanzaTech demonstrates that the combination of cutting-edge technology and an outstanding executive team can raise money in the most difficult of fundraising markets," added Gary E. Rieschel, the Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners.

"LanzaTech is pioneering new technologies that are changing the energy landscape as we know it," said Jim Messina of The Messina Group, who serves on the board of LanzaTech. "Their limitless growth potential and the potential positive impact on our environment are just two of the many reasons investors are excited to be a part of this growing company."

"I believe that green growth companies like LanzaTech hold the key to our future," said Sir Stephen Tindall, of K1W1 an investor in LanzaTech. "LanzaTech's innovative solution provides good financial return as well as environmental benefits. Truly a triple bottom line solution."

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to further deepen the partnership between LanzaTech and Siemens Metals Technologies," said Karl Purkarthofer, Chief Strategist Siemens Metals Technologies. "With this unique technology our customers will be able to reduce their ecological impact while also receiving an economic benefit. This investment proves our strong commitment in innovation and further strengthens our leading position as a technological front runner in green solutions for the metals industry."

LanzaTech
LanzaTech is a leader in gas fermentation technology that provides novel and economic routes to fuels and high value chemicals from waste carbon streams. By leveraging waste resources, LanzaTech's solutions mitigate carbon emissions from industry without adversely impacting food or land security. LanzaTech's unique process, certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, creates sustainable fuels and platform chemicals that serve as building blocks for everyday products such as rubber and plastics. LanzaTech, a company founded in New Zealand and headquartered in the U.S. is now a global organization with partnerships and investors in the U.S., India, Malaysia, Japan, and the UK with two commercial facilities slotted for construction in 2015 in China. For more information, visit http://www.lanzatech.com

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui") is one of the most diversified and comprehensive trading, investment and service enterprises in the world, with 147 offices in 67 countries as of March, 2014. Utilizing our global operating locations, network and information resources, we are multilaterally pursuing business that ranges from product sales, worldwide logistics and financing, through to the development of major international infrastructure and other projects in the following fields: Iron & Steel Products, Mineral & Metal Resources, Infrastructure Projects, Integrated Transportation Systems, Chemicals, Energy, Food Resources, Food Products & Services, Consumer Services, Innovation & Corporate Development Business. Mitsui is actively taking on challenges for global business innovation around the world. For more information, visit http://www.mitsui.com

CICC Growth Capital Fund I, L.P.
CICC Growth Capital Fund I, L.P. is a private equity fund established in 2011 by CICC Capital, the private equity platform of China International Capital Corporation ("CICC"). CICC is a leader in providing comprehensive financial services including investment banking, capital markets, institutional and individual securities sales and trading, fixed income, asset management, private equity, individual wealth management and research. CICC Capital provides fund management and investment advisory services for multiple private equity funds with AUM reaching 15 billion Chinese Yuan in 2013. Leveraging CICC's extensive client resource and in-depth knowledge of China's economic and business landscape, CICC Capital looks to make investments in growth companies and assists partners to navigate the fast growing Chinese market, with focus in the pharmaceutical, advanced equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, renewable energy, and financial services sectors. For more information, visit http://www.cicc.com.cn/portal/business/pe_en.xhtml

The Venture Capital unit of SFS (SFS VC) and corporate venture capital organization of Siemens invests in early stage technology companies and established technology growth companies, focusing on the energy, healthcare, industry, and infrastructure & cities markets and hence plays a key role in Siemens' global innovation network. The aim is to identify innovative solutions from which Siemens and its customers can profit and to strengthen business partnerships with innovative industry players. To date, the company has invested in about-180 start-up companies. For more information, visit http://www.siemens.com/venturecapital