Funding and investment worth a total of $15.5 million has been unveiled by the algae biofuels company Solix. In what is a very tight market the company, based in Colorado, has raised $10.5 million in its first round of outside funding, and has reached an agreement with investors for an additional commitment of $5 million, to be used to build an algae biofuel facility.

The Series A funding was led by I2BF Venture Capital, a London-based venture capital firm focused on biofuels, and Bohemian Investments, a private investment company based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Participating in the round are Southern Ute Alternative Energy LLC, an Ignacio, Colo.-based company that manages alternative energy investments for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe; Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. oil refinery operator, based in San Antonio, Texas, and Infield Capital, an investment fund focused on emerging "clean tech" companies, based in Boulder, Colo. The funding will support Solix's development of its fourth-generation technology, including a proprietary closed photo-bioreactor system, which produces biocrude from algae cost-effectively.

The $5 million follow-on commitment from the investor group will provide construction financing for the pilot plant, which will be developed jointly by Solix Biofuels and Southern Ute Alternative Energy LLC.

The biofuel plant will be located on a ten-acre site on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Southwest Colorado. It will be built in two phases, with the first to be completed in 12 to 18 months and consisting of four acres of photo-bioreactors for growing algae, and one acre for a lab facility. Upon completion of the first phase, Solix will build an additional five-acre expansion that will allow the pilot facility to produce at commercial scale.

"As the world moves to replace fossil fuels with the clean, renewable energy of the future, we see algae as a highly attractive alternative to agricultural crop feedstocks," said Doug Henston, CEO of Solix. "We secured this investment with energy industry innovators who see the potential for algae to transform our energy economy. Our partners understand Solix Biofuels' technologies and the potential for large-scale commercialization."

Two new members will join the Solix Biofuels board of directors: Jim Gillingham of Valero Energy; and Rebecca Kauffman, president and chief operating officer of Southern Ute Alternative Energy LLC. They join other Solix Biofuels board members including: Brian Klemsz, Bohemian Investments; Tim Lewin, I2BF Management; and Solix CEO Henston.