Bill Gates, Rockefellers invest in Sapphire Energy; equity infusions in algae producer top $100 million

In California, Bill Gates and the Rockefeller family trust led a round of new investors in Sapphire Energy, which has now raised more than $100 million for its algae based “green crude” technology, and said that it can rely on its existing base of investors to support the capital needs of the company through to a production scale of 153 Mgy.

The company has established a research center in New Mexico, having developed a green crude-based 91 octane fuel conforming to ASTM standards as of last May.  The company intends to be producing at commercial scale between 2011 and 2013. Investors in the company include ARCH Venture Partners, Wellcome Trust, Venrock and Cascade Investment. Venrock is the Rockefeller family’s fund and Cascade is Bill Gates’ personal investment vehicle. “

We created Sapphire Energy by working backwards and considering what a perfect fuel would look like – carbon neutral, renewable, not dependent on arable land or potable water,” said CEO Jason Pyle. “We are creating an entirely new category of energy – Green Crude Production – and are now at a point where we can focus on implementing our plans without worrying about fundraising,” he added. “With this investment, Sapphire has the resources to make partnering decisions independent of the need for financing, and the ability to build our first commercial facility with internal funding.”

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