Joule closes $70 million fundraising round

Joule Biotechnology has closed a $70 million (€54 million) third round of financing which it says it will use to bring its developments to commercialisation.

This means the total amount raised is more than $110 million and a facility will now be built in Hobbs, New Mexico, which will begin its commissioning process in the middle of this year.

In the facility, Joule’s technology will be tested and the facility will have the land to further expand by 1,000 acres if needed further down the line.

The technology is expected to prove biofuels can be produced even with a lack of feedstock or resource constraints.

‘The expansion of our pilot plant, the issuance of additional patents; now totalling 11, the transition to our new headquarters and labs, and the successful close of our largest funding round to date,’ says Joule’s CEO, William Sims. ‘Our goal since inception has been to enable large-scale, renewable fuel production at unprecedented costs and volumes in the near term, without the obstacles and slow pace of biofuel progress. On the heels of our latest funding round and technology advancement, we're in a very strong position to make it happen as planned.’

The biofuels is developed from solar energy, converting sunlight and waste CO₂ into biofuels without having to rely on feedstocks, processing or natural resources.