News & Press

OPX Biotechnologies Completes $17.5 Million Financing Round

New Funds to Drive Biofuels and Green Chemistry Process Demonstration

Boulder, Colo., April 6, 2009 - OPX Biotechnologies Inc., a bioproducts company, today announced the final closing of its B-round financing, raising $17.5 million to fund biofuels and green chemistry process development and demonstration. Braemar Energy Ventures led the financing. New OPX investor Altira Group LLC and earlier round participants MDV - Mohr Davidow Ventures and X/Seed Capital Management joined Braemar in this round.

"Completing this round of funding is an important milestone for our company," OPX Biotechnologies President and CEO Charles R. (Chas) Eggert said. "In a very challenging financing environment, our investors recognized the power of the OPX technology platform to deliver economical biofuels and green chemistry products. We now have secured the resources to drive process demonstration and strategic partnering as we accelerate toward commercialization. With Braemar and Altira joining MDV and X/Seed, OPX is further strengthened by an investor team that is providing added value to the company."

The proprietary OPX EDGE™ (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology enables rapid and effective optimization of bioconversion processes to transform renewable biomass feedstocks into fuels and green chemistry products at lower cost than petroleum-based alternatives. “While oil will be an important energy feedstock for years to come, OPX is catalyzing the most significant transition in the $1 trillion fuels and chemicals market in the last 80 years - the transition to economical and renewable feedstocks,” said Erik Straser, OPX board member and general partner at MDV.

"We have confidence in OPX's technology and team," said William D. Lese, managing director for Braemar Energy Ventures and recently appointed OPX Biotechnologies board director. "The company's value proposition of low production costs for both renewable fuels and chemistry products is a major differentiator in the marketplace."

"At Altira, we believe that global energy demand can be met through technical innovation. OPX has developed transformational technology that will drive efficiency in renewable fuels and chemicals making them commercially viable," said Jim Newell, a partner at Altira Group LLC who will also join the OPX board of directors.

Based in Boulder, Colo., OPX was founded in 2007, employs 25 people today and expects to double its team over the next year.