Plastic-to-fuel startup Agilyx raises $25M
By Katie Fehrenbacher Dec. 19, 2011, 1:47pm PT
gigaom.com
Agilyx, which has developed technology that can turn plastic otherwise headed for the landfill into a synthetic crude oil, announced on Monday that it has raised a Series C round of $25 million. And of course, given the sizable amount of biofuel companies looking to go public recently (Coskata, Fulcrum BioEnergy, Mascoma) Agilyx describes its latest round as “pre-IPO.”
Agilyx uses a process called “anaerobic thermal reclamation” — that is, heat in the absence of oxygen — to turn plastic into a gas, which is then condensed into the crude oil product. The company says a 1,000-pound bag can yield about a gallon of its crude oil substitute, and its system can process about 10 tons of plastic into about 2,400 gallons, or 60 barrels, per day. That crude product can then be fed into existing refineries for conversion into a variety of fuels and products.
The Series C round was led by Keating Capital, and the startup has already raised funds from trash king Waste Management, venture firm Kleiner Perkins, French oil giant Total, and investors at Chrysalix Energy, Saffron Hill Ventures and Reference Capital.
Agilyx is one of a group of companies that is looking to create biofuels and biochemicals from waste. Other companies that are working on different ways to turn trash and waste into useable products include Enerkem, Fulcrum BioEnergy, and Agnion Energy.
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