Siluria Gets Venture Funding

Siluria Technologies, a start-up that is developing a technology to make ethylene from natural gas, has nabbed $13.3 million in venture capital financing. Siluria uses its metal nanowire catalysts to convert methane into the olefin petrochemical building block. The company was founded by MIT professor Angela Belcher. Investors in Siluria include Alloy Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Lux Capital, and Presidio Ventures. Ethylene is normally made from petroleum-based naphtha or natural gas liquids such as ethane.