I like this.

By Chris Morrison 11.13.07

Like ImageTree, a startup we reported on two weeks ago, CellFor’s cleantech angle is forest management, aided by the about-face the timber market has had in the last few years.

CellFor, a Vancouver, British Columbia company, clones trees through a process called somatic embryogenesis. The trees it produces grow quickly and predictably, and tend to be resistant to diseases.

Those are desirable traits to forest owners, many of whom are now hedge funds and investment vehicles called REITs and TIMOs. All three are focused on maintaining healthy forests in order to receive predictable returns, and some are also interested in the possibility of carbon offsets

However, there’s a problem with the growing offset market: Forests, being composed of hundreds to millions of unique trees, are difficult to measure or predict the future value of. That’s a problem both CellFor and ImageTree can help with.

This round of $24.5 million is the company’s fourth, bringing the total to $100 million. The funding was led by ATP Capital, BDC Venture Capital, CSFB Private Equity and GrowthWorks Capital, and an undisclosed hedge fund and agri-business company also joined. Funding news via Clean Technology Investor.

http://venturebeat.com/2007/11/13/cellfor-raises-245m-for-cloned-trees/