Algae-to-biofuel company Solazyme, Inc. has added Unilever (NYSE: UN) to its list of investors.
The two companies already signed an R&D agreement in March of this year, through which algae oils produced by Solazyme could find their way into personal care products produced by Unilever.
Unilever’s investment in Solazyme adds to the $52 million Series D round of financing announced last month. Other participants in that round included Braemar Energy Ventures, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and VantagePoint Venture Partners and Zygote Ventures. Chevron Technology Ventures LLC is also an investor in Solazyme.
The amount of Unilever’s investment was not announced.
“Unilever products touch the lives of over 2 billion people every day. Solazyme’s tailored oils and bioproducts provide innovative and sustainable solutions across many of their well established product lines. Our technology compliments Unilever’s aggressive drive and commitment to deliver sustainable high performance products to consumers globally,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO and co-founder of Solazyme.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme’s technology allows algae to produce oil and biomaterials in standard fermentation facilities. These oils and biomaterials are tailored not only for biofuel production, but also as replacements for fossil petroleum and plant oils in a diverse range of products running from clean fuels and chemicals to cosmetics and foods.
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