LanzaTech wins global entrepreneurial award

LanzaTech wins global entrepreneurial award

Auckland, New Zealand May 8 2011: Clean energy technology company LanzaTech has won another global award – a TiE50 for energy and cleantech.

The awards are part of TiE Silicon Valley, the world’s largest annual conference for entrepreneurs, being held in California May 13-14.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown has welcomed the international recognition of LanzaTech's innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

"It is great to see a company founded in Auckland recognised as being at the cutting edge of the energy and cleantech field," says the Mayor. "LanzaTech's example is inspirational as we focus on the high tech area as a way of ensuring the new Auckland achieves its potential as New Zealand's economic power house."

LanzaTech was one of 1600 nominations in the energy/cleantech, software/cloud computing, internet/social networking, wireless/mobile and life sciences categories.

Vish Mishra, president of TiE Silicon Valley, says the top 50 represent the best in entrepreneurship – “risk-taking yet pragmatic, visionary but market aware and a passion to be the best. We hold up these companies as role models for any enterprise, big or small, established or being incubated, which aspires to success in a dynamic and demanding marketplace.”

LanzaTech CEO Dr Jennifer Holmgren says LanzaTech’s accelerated commercialisation of its novel technology that ferments waste gases into ethanol and chemicals is recognised by this award.

“The award recognises an exciting New Zealand technology and the Kiwi spirit which is enabling us to commercialise the technology quickly,” Dr Holmgren says. “By aggressively leveraging international funding and market place connections, LanzaTech has the potential to have a significant impact on the global energy mix.”

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About LanzaTech:

LanzaTech was founded in early 2005 in Auckland, New Zealand to develop and commercialize a proprietary gas fermentation process that produces ethanol and high-value chemicals from renewable, non-food resources including industrial flue gases and other waste gases. Lanzatech’s patented microbe uses these waste gases as its sole source of energy and carbon, in contrast to technologies that require the use of food or farmed resources for renewable fuel production.

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