Biofuel technology developer Solazyme Inc. has raised a $45.4 million third round from new investors Braemar Energy Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Previous investors the Roda Group and Harris & Harris Group also participated.

The San Francisco-based company, which transforms algae into biofuel, is planning a commercial production plant, which is ostensibly why it needed to gather such a substantial chunk of money. Previously Solazyme, which was founded in 2003, had secured about $8 million in equity, $5 million in debt financing and a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Algae is considered an increasingly important source for liquid fuel because of its unparalleled ability to photosynthesize light into biomass quickly. Also, the best sources of fertilizer for growing algae are the very greenhouse gases that traditional power generators are under increasing pressure to reduce. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis

See December 2006 story on algae-based fuel from TechConfidential.com

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