Virent was founded in 2002 to commercialize the aqueous phase reforming (APR) process, an innovative technology which generates hydrogen from sugar, as originally published in the journal Nature.  Researchers at Virent have since further advanced the technology into the BioForming® process, which combines APR with other catalytic technologies to produce renewable liquid fuels, fuel gases, and other chemicals.

In early 2006, Virent made ground-breaking discoveries by expanding the BioForming technology to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules like those produced at petroleum refineries.  These high-energy hydrocarbon mixtures can then be used directly or blended seamlessly to make conventional liquid fuels.  Gasoline was the first liquid fuel Virent produced using this technology, followed shortly thereafter by diesel and jet fuel.

Since this discovery, the BioForming process has advanced rapidly, exceeding milestones for yield, product composition, and cost.  These developments have fueled Virent’s dramatic growth in number of highly skilled employees and pilot plants housed in a state of the art catalytic biorefining facility.  Virent has received significant commercial interest and counts Cargill and Honda among its leading investors.  The company has entered into key strategic industrial collaborations, including with Royal Dutch Shell for the development and commercialization of biogasoline.  This collaboration will accelerate the technology’s time to market and enable broad commercial penetration.

Virent has raised over $30M in equity financing with its latest round in the fall of 2007.  The company has also attracted $11M in federal funding including a second Advanced Technology Program grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in September of 2007.  This grant is to develop effective and economical methods to break down non-food cellulosic biomass into sugars and other chemical intermediates for further processing into biofuels.

Virent’s growing partnerships with major energy, automotive, and agricultural companies, in addition to expanding global interests, continue to validate this game-changing technology.