Bill Gates Funds Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass to Plantrop

Biotechnology specialist Renmatix (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania / USA; www.renmatix.com) has secured a USD 14m investment from a group of companies and individuals, including Bill Gates and French oil and gas giant Total (Paris; www.total.com). The funds will help the company commercialise its “Plantrose” process, which converts cellulosic biomass from wood waste or agricultural residue to “Plantro” sugars and other bio building blocks. The investment will pave the way for initial Renmatix licenses for Plantrose biorefineries in a range of markets, including Canada, India, the US and Malaysia, the US company said. At the same time, the money will also help develop further downstream bioproduct applications.

Total first invested in Renmatix last year, in return for which the company got a seat on the biotechnology company’s board (see Plasteurope.com of 27.04.2015). In addition to the latest financial injection, the French group now also signed a licensing agreement with Renmatix for 1m t/y in cellulosic sugar production capacity, which Total will be able to build at facilities of its choosing. Other investors in the US company aside from Total include BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com), Waste Management (Houston, Texas / USA;www.wm.com), KPCB (Menlo Park, California / USA; www.kpcb.com) and Bright Capital (Moscow / Russia; http://bright-capital.com).

Using supercritical water, the Plantrose process helps lower the cost of converting biomass to cellulosic sugars, which in turn are used as intermediates for second-generation biochemicals. Renmatix already uses the process to create its own range of polymers, branded as “Omno”. The global market size for simple early applications of these biopolymers is large, the company said, adding that new applications are currently being explored by current and emerging partners.