On December 11, 2014, biomass supply company Genera Energy Inc., announced that it received a strategic financing commitment from energy investment firm, WindSail Capital Group.

This private financing agreement is an indicator of the finance industry’s increased confidence in biomass technologies. Advances like this support goals of the Energy Department’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), which works to reduce technical risks associated with new bioenergy technologies, enabling emerging bioenergy companies to grow and attract private investment (see Executive Summary, BETO Multi-Year Program Plan). 

BETO provided $5 million in funding to Genera in 2010 to develop one of five projects to lower the cost of collecting, storing, and transporting cellulosic feedstocks. The project was completed by Genera’s subsidiary company, TennEra LLC, in 2013. WindSail Capital Group is a provider of growth capital to companies advancing energy innovation and sustainability.

“This financing is not just a significant achievement for Genera, but an important milestone for the bio-based economy as a whole,” said Kelly Tiller, Ph.D., CEO and president of Genera Energy Inc., as quoted in the Genera press release. “As these proven technologies are now moving from labs to full production scale, there’s a growing recognition that the economic competitiveness and true sustainability of the bioeconomy hinge on the cost and reliability of the upstream supply of biomass.”