Enerkem Technologies Raises $8.6 Million in Private Equity Round.MONTREAL -- Enerkem Technologies Inc., a company specializing in synthetic gas and alternate fuels announces it has closed an $8.6 million preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. private financing. The round was led by new investors Rho Ventures and Braemar Energy Ventures and also included investments from existing investors Solidarity Fund QFL QFL Quebec Federation of Labour (Canada) QFL Queensland Football League QFL Quoted for Lies (internet slang) QFL Qualified Products List and Innovatech Sud du Quebec. Enerkem's business is focused initially on gasifying residuals from heavy oil upgrading operations to assist in the recovery of heavy oil and bitumen bitumen (bĭty  `mən) a generic term referring to flammable, brown or black mixtures of tarlike hydrocarbons, derived naturally or by distillation from petroleum. in Western Canada
Western Canada, commonly referred to as the West and in the production of electricity from municipal solid waste “Municipal waste” redirects here. For other uses, see Municipal waste (disambiguation). Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a waste type that includes predominantly household waste (domestic waste) with sometimes the addition of commercial wastes collected by a . "Enerkem's projects have reached key milestones in the application of our technology to both the biomass and the oil sands sectors", said Vincent Chornet, Enerkem's Managing Director. "Industrial customers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of our technology in providing clean and inexpensive energy sources from alternative fuels. This funding will provide us with the working capital to add the resources to continue to develop projects in partnership with our customers and partners in both sectors." "Enerkem's world class engineering team has refined the design of an elegant, low severity gasification gas·i·fy tr. & intr.v. gas·i·fied, gas·i·fy·ing, gas·i·fies To convert into or become gas. gas approach that allows for smaller, modular systems" said Neil S. Suslak, Managing Director at Braemar Energy Ventures. "It is truly the best system we have seen to address the specific needs of these markets." "Enerkem's unique and proprietary technology has reached the commercialization stage at a time when the economic, political and environmental factors impacting on the energy sector all point to a growing need for applications allowing the inexpensive production of synthetic gas and fuels" said Joshua Ruch, Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Rho Ventures. "The Company's technology will have a disruptive effect on the economics of producing oil from tar sands Tar sands is a common name of what are more properly called bituminous sands, but also commonly referred to as oil sands or (in Venezuela) extra-heavy oil. They are a mixture of sand or clay, water, and extremely heavy crude oil. as well as make economical the production of electricity from municipal solid waste". Enerkem Technologies Inc. is a technology company which enables the production of synthetic gas and synthetic-gas derived fuels from low cost materials, using its proprietary low severity gasification technology. The company has a state of the art pilot facility in Sherbrooke, Quebec “Sherbrooke” redirects here. For other uses, see Sherbrooke (disambiguation). Sherbrooke (2006 population: 147,427) is a city in south-eastern Quebec, Canada, the only major city in the Eastern Townships. , and is developing industrial-scale projects with world-class partners for steam and power production applications. Enerkem also plans to start the construction of the first alcohols (methanol methanol, methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol, CH3OH, a colorless, flammable liquid that is miscible with water in all proportions. Methanol is a monohydric alcohol. It melts at −97. and ethanol) production plant from low cost, urban biomass material. The demonstration plant is expected to be completed by mid-2008 and will produce 4,000,000 litres per year of alcohols. Enerkem was founded by Vincent Chornet, Dr. Esteban Chornet and Dr. Nicolas Abatzoglou and Kemestrie Inc., a spin off company of the University of Sherbrooke. Venture-capital fund Innovatech Sud du Quebec and Solidarity Fund QFL joined as shareholders in 2002. Enerkem has offices in Sherbrooke and Montreal, Quebec. Additional information is available at www.enerkem.com Braemar Energy Ventures Braemar Energy Ventures is a venture capital fund making early- to mid-stage investments in the energy technology sector. The firm's principals have invested in more than 30 companies in the sector and have significant technical, business and financial experience in the energy and energy-related industries. Through offices in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Boston, the firm targets a wide range of energy technologies that impact stationary power, transportation and portable energy applications. Additional information is available at www.braemarenergy.com Innovatech Sud du Quebec Societe Innovatech Sud du Quebec is a venture capital fund created by the Government of Quebec to invest in technological innovation initiatives which foster Southern Quebec's economy. Formed in 1995, Innovatech du Sud du Quebec supports innovative projects in such diverse sectors as health sciences, information and industrial technologies. More information on Innovatech can be found at isq.qc.ca. Rho Ventures Rho has been backing venture-stage companies since its inception in 1981. Venture capital funds Venture Capital Funds An investment fund that manages money from investors seeking private equity stakes in small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth potential. Notes: under management currently exceed $1 billion. Rho Ventures has invested in over 165 venture stage companies and helped build market leaders across many high growth industries. More information on Rho can be found at www.rho.com. Solidarity Fund QFL With assets of over $6.8 billion, the Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital fund that through its RRSP See Registered Retirement Savings Plan. RRSP See registered retirement savings plan (RRSP). channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and contribute to Quebec's economic development. The organization is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in 1,681 companies. The Fund currently has close to 550,000 shareholders and has helped, on its own or with other financial partners, create, maintain and support over 116,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com |
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