BlackRock leads $30 million round for biofuels company LS9

Biofuels and biochemicals company LS9 recently got a new CEO, and now it has a fresh pool of cash too.

The money raised will go to products “ready” for commercial production, according to a company statement, which seems like a distinction from actually going into commercial production. LS9 opened a demo plant in Florida earlier this year (pictured). New CEO Ed Dineen told us earlier this month that he’s planning to make a big push in Brazil and is also eyeing the strong developing economics of India and China. He’s also looking to strengthen the companies partnerships, which currently include a deal to develop renewable chemicals for use in consumer goods with Procter & Gamble and a deal with Chevron.

One of LS9’s selling points is that it uses specially-engineered microbes capable of converting plant-based materials into fuels and chemicals in just one step, compared to the multiple-phase processes of some of its competitors. It makes a line of fuels that are essentially direct petroleum substitutes and intended to be competitive with gasoline, but aren’t commercially available yet.

“With this new round of funding, LS9 will be able to accelerate implementation of our plans to commercialize our technology and grow our product portfolio,” Dineen said in a statement.

The company’s fourth round of financing was led by global investment firm BlackRock and included previous investors Flagship Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and CTTV Investments, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures.