Carbon recycling specialist raises $72m Series E

LanzaTech was founded in New Zealand in 2005 and relocated to the US in 2014 after receiving a number of research incentives and tax credits from local authorities. The company, which focuses on turning industrial carbon waste into useful feedstock, also maintains bases in China and India.

Operations include the transformation of Chinese steel mill emissions and Japanese unrecyclable household waste into ethanol, plastic for consumer goods, and aviation fuel. In June, the company signed a fuel supply deal with All Nippon Airways, Japan's largest airline. 

LanzaTech's licensing and upstream production agreements around the region were facilitated by a focused networking initiative that leveraged growing private equity and venture capital interest in cleantech. Previous investors in the company include China's CICC Investment and Qiming Venture Partners, as well as Malaysia Life Sciences Capital Fund and New Zealand angel K1W1.

New Zealand Superannuation Fund provided $60 million in growth capital in late 2014 following an agreement with the China Academy of Sciences to commercialize LanzaTech systems in China's steel industry. Other investors include US-based Khosla Ventures, Malaysian energy sector services provider Dialog Group, and the VC unit of German industrial conglomerate Siemens.

"LanzaTech is addressing our collective need for sustainable fuels and materials, enabling industrial players to be part of building a truly circular economy," Anders Bendsen Spohr, a senior director at Novo, said in a statement. "Novo Holdings' investment underlines our commitment to supporting the bio-industrials sector and, in particular, companies that are developing cutting-edge technology platforms."

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• Topics
• North America
• Cleantech
• Industrials
• Expansion
• USA
• Asia
• Growth capital
• energy