September 26, 2016

North Bridge Venture Partners and Mr. Agustin Coppel have co-anchored an additional $9 million follow-on investment in Cool Planet following a previous $9 million round filed with the SEC on January 28.

Founded in 2009 in Colorado, Cool Planet began as a biofuel producer but is now commercializing Cool Terra, an Engineered Biocarbon ™ product that delivers a platform of solutions to the agricultural sector by improving soil health, efficiency, and structure through the retention of moisture and nutrients at the root zone. The addition of Cool Terra boosts microbial life in soil while also sequestering carbon from the atmosphere providing support for the agricultural, water, and energy sectors.

The company uses a high-temperature, high-pressure process of ‘cooking’ wood chips and agricultural byproducts to the point where carbon gas is released, which is captured and condensed into biofuel, while the spent solid biomass is branded as Cool Terra, which is being sold to California-based strawberry farmers and nurseries.

“We are excited with our recent investments into Cool Planet, a company that has brought science to nature in a way that we are certain will revolutionize the agricultural industry, making soils healthy again as the basis of healthier crops, and consequently healthier people,” said Agustín Coppel.

The company has raised in the area of $150 million since its launch, including backing from a wide variety of strategic investors including Google Ventures. However, the global decline in oil prices has prompted the company to shift its focus away from biofuels and toward applications in agriculture.

“Denver is definitely not immune to a downturn in oil, gas and renewable energy, but it’s been exactly the opposite for soil health and agriculture,” Wes Bolson, head of business development at Cool Planet told BusinessDen in February.

Shift to Ag

The company’s intent to shift its focus to agriculture is reflected in its announcement last week of the appointment of Jim Loar as president and CEO of its agricultural business.

Mr. Loar has 28 years of experience in agribusiness, having spent 14 years serving as vice president of operations for the $2.1 billion agricultural division of Wilbur-Ellis, after spending 14 years with crop protection company, Griffin LLC.

“The board has confidence that Jim’s expertise and intimate understanding of these markets will accelerate product commercialization and help Cool Planet become an industry leader in what promises to be a multi-billion dollar market segment,” said Archie Dunham, speaking on behalf of the Cool Planet board in a company statement.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to help fund the advancement of the commercialization of Cool Terra and to expand its business to include supplying wheat, soy, corn, and cotton farms. It is also working to develop a nutritional product for inclusion in livestock feeds, Bolson told BusinessDen.

“We’ve established a lot of momentum, when you combine the response we’ve received from the investment community with the distribution and development agreements we’ve established,” said Loar. “Plus, we’ve invested heavily in a public and private commercial trial initiative that’s unprecedented for the biocarbon category. Our goal – and we believe we’re in a great position to achieve it – is to convert the momentum of 2016 into even greater commercial success for Cool Terra and Cool Planet in 2017 and beyond.”

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Lynda Kiernan