Author Archive: Jim Lane

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Fast Risers: Top 12 Deals of the Season, as advanced bio investment sizzles

Fast Risers: Top 12 Deals of the Season, as advanced bio investment sizzles

September 28, 2017 |

Summer has now given way to fall — and what was supposed to be biotechnology’s sleepiest season turned out to be a monster, and fascinating too. Here are the top 12 companies raising capital and making huge deals and advances this season. #12. Descartes Labs. In August, we reported that Descartes Labs raised $30M in […]

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The west’s pure-play ethanol kings: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Pacific Ethanol

The west’s pure-play ethanol kings: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Pacific Ethanol

September 28, 2017 |

Pacific Ethanol was founded in 2003 as the first pure-play ethanol company and today is a leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels with 9 strategically located bio-refineries in the U.S., production capacity of 605M gallons/yr., a current run rate of 1B gallons/yr. of marketing volume, and co-product production capacity of over 1.5M tons/yr. (on a […]

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Financing Bioeconomy Ventures: Pt. 4 – Competitive & Strategic Analysis of Renewable Fuel and Chemical Ventures

Financing Bioeconomy Ventures: Pt. 4 – Competitive & Strategic Analysis of Renewable Fuel and Chemical Ventures

September 28, 2017 |

By Lorenz Bauer, Gerald Kutney and Bob Kodrzycki, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest (Note: This is Part 4 of an 11-part series. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.) Investors focused on renewable chemicals and fuels are looking for projects with the greatest commercial potential. However, within the plethora […]

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Financing Bioeconomy Ventures, Part 3 – The Business Plan

Financing Bioeconomy Ventures, Part 3 – The Business Plan

September 27, 2017 |

By Gerald Kutney and Bob Kodrzycki, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest (Note: This is Part 3 of an 11-part series. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.) A business plan contains basically only two major subjects: The business case for the investment: ROI and pro forma Risk management. Keep in mind that […]

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2017’s Agriculture Revolution is gaining pace, getting faster

2017’s Agriculture Revolution is gaining pace, getting faster

September 27, 2017 |

1917 was the time of 10 Days that Shook the World and the Russian Revolution. Today, things are moving even faster than back then — and the field of operations has shifted from that dreadful revolution in the streets to revolution in the fields and labs. Agriculture, that is — our original industry, is being turned […]

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Success in succinic, succinctly: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to BioAmber

Success in succinic, succinctly: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to BioAmber

September 27, 2017 |

BioAmber’s Mission? To be a fast growing producer of chemical intermediates that uses sugars instead of fossil fuels and sells competitively priced, sustainable chemicals with strong profit margins and the cleanest environmental footprint in the industry. The latest? “We are pleased to report our second quarter 2017 results generated BioAmber’s largest quarterly revenue ever. Year to […]

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CABLE is coming to San Francisco – and why that’s a must-read, must-know for the bioeconomy

CABLE is coming to San Francisco – and why that’s a must-read, must-know for the bioeconomy

September 26, 2017 |

In today’s newsflow, NIFA unveiled $21M in grants to accelerate the bioeconomy, and in there was a $2.75M grant to jumpstart a 19-university consortium called CABLE, which you’re going to hear as much about as any other topic in the bioeconomy over the next 12 months. Why? CABLE’s ambitious aim is to accelerate the entry […]

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As NIFA awards $21.1M to grow the bioeconomy, CABLE debuts to bridge students and industry

As NIFA awards $21.1M to grow the bioeconomy, CABLE debuts to bridge students and industry

September 26, 2017 |

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced six grants totaling nearly $21.1 million to support the development of new jet fuel, biobased products and biomaterials from renewable sources. Funding is made through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. Today, we’re going to shine […]

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Integrated, hedged, fast-growing: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Green Plains

Integrated, hedged, fast-growing: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Green Plains

September 26, 2017 |

Founded in 2004, Green Plains Inc. is North America’s third largest producer of ethanol. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Green Plains has grown rapidly, primarily through acquisitions, and today has operating segments throughout the ethanol value chain. Operations begin upstream with our grain handling segment, continue through approximately 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol production capacity per […]

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Financing Bioeconomy Ventures: Part 2 – The Pro Forma

Financing Bioeconomy Ventures: Part 2 – The Pro Forma

September 26, 2017 |

By Gerald Kutney, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest This is Part 2 of an 11-part series. Part 1 is here. Developing a pro forma projection for an investment opportunity is the first step for an entrepreneur seeking capital, and also the first screening level financing institutions use to evaluate such proposals. There are […]

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