Enerkem Raises Private Equity Round

January 29, 2007

For Immediate Release

Company specializing in synthetic gas and alternate fuels closes an $8.6 million preferred stock private financing

MONTREAL, Canada (January 29, 2007) — Enerkem Technologies Inc., a company specializing in synthetic gas and alternate fuels announces it has closed an $8.6 million preferred stock private financing. The round was led by new investors Rho Ventures and Braemar Energy Ventures and also included investments from existing investors Solidarity Fund QFL and Innovatech Sud du Québec. Enerkem's business is focused initially on gasifying residuals from heavy oil upgrading operations to assist in the recovery of heavy oil and bitumen in Western Canada and in the production of electricity from municipal solid waste.=

“Enerkem's projects have reached key milestones in the application of our technology to both the biomass and the oil sands sectors” , said Vincent Chornet, Enerkem's Managing Director. “Industrial customers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of our technology in providing clean and inexpensive energy sources from alternative fuels. This funding will provide us with the working capital to add the resources to continue to develop projects in partnership with our customers and partners in both sectors.”

“Enerkem's world class engineering team has refined the design of an elegant, low severity gasification approach that allows for smaller, modular systems” said Neil S. Suslak, Managing Director at Braemar Energy Ventures. “It is truly the best system we have seen to address the specific needs of these markets.”

“Enerkem's unique and proprietary technology has reached the commercialization stage at a time when the economic, political and environmental factors impacting on the energy sector all point to a growing need for applications allowing the inexpensive production of synthetic gas and fuels” said Joshua Ruch, Chairman and CEO of Rho Ventures. “The Company's technology will have a disruptive effect on the economics of producing oil from tar sands as well as make economical the production of electricity from municipal solid waste” .

Enerkem Technologies Inc. is a technology company which enables the production of synthetic gas and synthetic-gas derived fuels from low cost materials, using its proprietary low severity gasification technology. The company has a state of the art pilot facility in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and is developing industrial-scale projects with world-class partners for steam and power production applications. Enerkem also plans to start the construction of the first alcohols (methanol and ethanol) production plant from low cost, urban biomass material. The demonstration plant is expected to be completed by mid-2008 and will produce 4,000,000 litres per year of alcohols.

Enerkem was founded by Vincent Chornet, Dr. Esteban Chornet and Dr. Nicolas Abatzoglou and Kemestrie Inc., a spin off company of the University of Sherbrooke. Venture-capital fund Innovatech Sud du Québec and Solidarity Fund QFL joined as shareholders in 2002. Enerkem has offices in Sherbrooke and Montreal, Quebec. Additional information is available at www.enerkem.com.

About Braemar Energy Ventures

Founded in 2003, Braemar Energy Ventures is a leading venture capital firm focused on investing in transformative energy-tech and related companies contributing to global sustainability and combating climate change. Using sector expertise and experience, Braemar aims to be an engaged partner with its portfolio companies to best help them navigate the path to creating significant global impact. For more information, visit braemarenergy.com.

Innovatech Sud du Québec

Société Innovatech Sud du Québec is a venture capital fund created by the Government of Quebec to invest in technological innovation initiatives which foster Southern Quebec's economy. Formed in 1995, Innovatech du Sud du Québec supports innovative projects in such diverse sectors as health sciences, information and industrial technologies. More information on Innovatech can be found at isq.qc.ca.

Rho Ventures

Rho has been backing venture-stage companies since its inception in 1981. Venture capital funds under management currently exceed $1 billion. Rho Ventures has invested in over 165 venture stage companies and helped build market leaders across many high growth industries. More information on Rho can be found at www.rho.com.

Solidarity Fund QFL

With assets of over $6.8 billion, the Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital fund that through its RRSP channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and contribute to Québec's economic development. The organization is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in 1,681 companies. The Fund currently has close to 550,000 shareholders and has helped, on its own or with other financial partners, create, maintain and support over 116,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com.

Source:

Enerkem Technologies Inc.
www.enerkem.com

Information

Vincent Chornet
(514) 875-0284