Aurora Biofuels lands $20M in Series B

Alameda, Calif.-based Aurora Biofuels said it completed a second round of funding, raising $20 million.

The California biofuel company said it plans to use the funds to expand its field operations and to increase its efforts to optimize the production cycle of growing, harvesting and extracting microalgae to produce bio-oil.

Aurora, founded by a group of U.C. Berkeley students in 2006, said it has developed a way to create biodiesel fuel with yields that are 125 times higher and have 50 per cent lower costs than more common production methods.

Other algal biofuel companies making strides include Solazyme, LiveFuels, GreenFuel Technologies and others.

Recent deals for San Francisco-based Solazyme include last year's supply agreement with Seattle-based Imperium and this year's feedstock and testing agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures, a division of San Ramon, Calif.'s Chevron (NYSE: CVX).

In May, GreenFuel Technologies said it closed a Series B round $13.9 million round for algal farm technology development and scaling projects during 2008, of which $6.3 million retired company debt.

Aurora's Series B was led by Oak Investment Partners, along with Noventi and Gabriel Venture Partners.

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