The Week in Cleantech – August 20 – 26

Last week saw a distinct focus on biofuel and biochemical technology and project developers by private investors, large corporates, and the federal government. It was disclosed via regulatory filings that Lakewood, CO based ZeaChem had secured $29 million in new Series D financing from undisclosed investors for its cellulosic ethanol technology, while Wilmington, NC based Chemtex received a $99 million loan guarantee from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support development of a cellulosic ethanol biorefinery.

Renmatix, a Pennsylvania based developer of technology for the production of cellulosic sugar intermediaries for biochemicals and biofuels, received $25 million in a Series C round from new investor and strategic partnerWaste Management.

And finally, in a big three-way partnership in the biochemical space, BASF has announced a new collaboration with Danish company Novozymes and its long-time partner Cargill to produce acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks. BASF is one of the world’s largest producers of acrylic acid, which is used in the production of polymers and is normally produced from the refining of crude oils.

But there is more to cleantech than just biofuels and chemicals, and last week saw plenty of action in other sectors. Fleet tracking and management software developer FleetMatics filed with regulators to complete an initial public offering of its shares on the NYSE. San Francisco cleantech incubator Greenstart announced a new crop of startups, and the photovoltaics industry saw the merger of Austin, TX based Solar Power Technologies with Burlington, VT based Draker.