Elevance Raises $40 Million

Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc., a specialty chemical startup, has raised more than $40 million from TPG Star and TPG Biotechnology Partners. Elevance was recently formed as the outgrowth of an existing partnership between Cargill and catalyst technology company Materia. 

PRESS RELEASE

Materia, Inc., a catalyst technology company and Caltech spin-off, announced today the creation and independent financing of a new company that builds on technology developed by Materia in partnership with Cargill, Incorporated. The new entity, named Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc., will harness the potential of natural oils combined with Materia's Nobel Prize winning metathesis technology to aggressively grow in the $500 billion specialty chemicals market. Emerging from collaboration between Materia and Cargill that started in 2004 after receiving a $1.8 MM matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Elevance was recently formed and secured more than $40 million in venture capital led by investments from TPG STAR, L.P. and TPG Biotechnology Partners II, L.P. The new company expects to generate over $1 billion in sales by 2016.

Elevance develops and commercializes value-added chemicals and materials by applying Materia's metathesis technology to low-cost renewable oils (e.g., soy, canola, corn, etc.). This Nobel Prize winning catalyst technology continues to be developed by Materia and the laboratories of Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert H. Grubbs of The California Institute of Technology. Elevance already has a strong foundation producing commercial grade waxes that are sold on a global basis today, often under the name NatureWax