By Greentech Lead America: The Roda Group, a venture
capital group focusing on large-scale and lucrative business opportunities that
address the issues of climate change, has invested in mOasis in Mountain View,
California and Inventys Thermal Technologies in Burnaby, British Columbia, two
new companies in the cleantech space.
mOasis has created a soil amendment product that
increases crop yields while simultaneously reducing the need for fertilizer,
water and water-related energy use. The product is a new type of hydrogel, a
polymer known for its ability to absorb massive quantities of water. The mOasis
product will enhance the amount of moisture and nutrients available to a
plant’s root zone and significantly reduce water stress between rain or
irrigation cycles.
Inventys has developed an energy and capital-efficient technology
for capturing carbon dioxide from industrial sources. The process is less than
one third the cost of existing industrial CO2 capture
technologies and will enable the widespread adoption of carbon capture
and sequestration.
Inventys is building an in-house pilot unit capable of
capturing multiple tons of CO2 per day from a natural gas power generator by
late 2012 and will be deploying field units with major industry partners in
2013.
“As was the case with Solazyme, The Roda Group is
enthusiastic and proud to invest in talented and passionate people who look
forward to developing and selling products that address enormous market
opportunities while helping the world build a more sustainable and healthy
environment and food supply. We believe that mOasis and Inventys will
fundamentally advance the way we grow food and produce energy,
respectively,” said Roger Strauch, chairman of The Roda Group.