The boom in bio-based materials and chemicals is really a boom in synthetic...
Venture capitalists (VCs) invested $3.1 billion in bio-based chemicals and materials developers since 2004. As many of those start-ups reach megaton scales and launch IPOs, Lux Research analysts sought...
View ArticleUnilever and Solazyme double down as “green” consumer spending wilts
California-based biotechnology firm Solazyme recently extended its commercial agreement with consumer care giant, Unilever. The two companies have been working together since 2009 to leverage...
View ArticleThe Lux Top 10
During the fourth quarter of 2011, Lux Research analysts profiled 262 companies across 12 different emerging technology domains in the fourth quarter of 2011.Here are the 10 they thought were the most...
View ArticleRating Thermochemical Start-ups on the Lux Innovation Grid
Small technology startups are driving a wave of new bio-based chemicals and materials technologies, and their growth is catalyzing the biggest change the global chemicals industry has seen in decades....
View ArticleBiotech’s Founding Fathers Fear for the Industry’s Future
Last month, we attended the Business Association Italy America event entitled “Beyond Borders: The Age of Global Biotech,” in San Francisco. The event hosted a panel featuring several luminaries that...
View ArticleAmyris’s Shake up: A True Housecleaning or Sign It’s Desperate to Partner to...
Just days before its quarterly earnings call this month, Amyris sparked a sell-off of its stock when it announced that President and CEO John Melo would keep his job as three other executives leave:...
View ArticleIndustry Giants Join Forces to Fast Track the Commercialization of 100%...
Last week, industry giants Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, Heinz, Nike, and Proctor & Gamble formed a partnership agreement designed to integrate 100% plant-based polyethylene terepthalate (PET) into their...
View ArticleDespite Generous Assumptions, the Algae Farm Has a Negative 48% Margin
The bio-based materials and chemicals industry needs to tap newer, non-food sources of biomass and cellulosic material and raise volumes of feedstock before it can emerge as an economically viable...
View ArticleHow sweet it is: Coca-Cola and BNDES shower projects with funding in Brazil;...
Droughts have plagued North America cutting corn output to a 16-year low, while monsoon rainfall has been 12% lighter in areas of India and even more in other regions. But in Brazil, even though...
View ArticleSteven Chu steps down at U.S. Department of Energy, leaving a mixed legacy
Last week brought the widely expected news that Steven Chu will be stepping down as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Chu has been a hero to scientists and clean energy advocates, but...
View ArticleFrom IP to Open Source: Tailoring Open Innovation Strategies to the Continuum...
Patents encourage innovation, except when they don’t. In biotechnology, bioethicists have long challenged the practice of patenting genes – and the U.S. Supreme Court recently ended it, stating that...
View ArticleSamsung, Apple, Nokia, HP, and Now Blackberry: A Month of Meh for Innovation...
Technology company buyouts are usually triumphant moments of validation, but this week’s announcement that Blackberry is considering a $4.7 billion offer actually shows how far the company has fallen....
View ArticleRe-coining MINT: Why Wall Street’s Stupid Acronyms Fail and Most Investments...
Millions of people are just digging out from the massive storm that hit over the weekend. No, not that climate-change-proving Arctic polar vortex snowstorm hitting the U.S., but by the hypestorm in the...
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