Harris & Harris Group Notes Unilever's Purchase of Algae-Produced Oil From Solazyme

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harris & Harris Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:TINY), an early-stage, active investor in transformative companies, notes an article in The New York Times discussing the purchase by Unilever, the consumer products giant, of large amounts of oil from Solazyme, Inc., a start-up company that bioengineers algae to produce oils, proteins and complex sugars.

Unilever said it would use the oil for its personal care products, which include Dove and Brylcreem. The agreement, under which Unilever plans to buy roughly three million gallons of the algae-produced oil over 12 to 18 months starting early next year, is part of its aim to double the size of its business while reducing its overall environmental footprint.  For Solazyme, the agreement represents an important step as it ramps up to commercial-scale production.  Originally conceived as a fuel business, Solazyme has focused on making oils for products with higher profit margins like personal care, food and petrochemicals.  The Unilever oil, developed in a five-year partnership with Solazyme, will be made at a plant it built in Brazil with Bunge, a leading agribusiness and food company.  When fully operational, the plant could produce roughly 30 million gallons of oil a year. The article in The New York Times can be accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/business/energy-environment/unilever-to-buy-oil-derived-from-algae-from-solazyme.html?_r=0.

Harris & Harris Group is an investor in publicly traded Solazyme, Inc., and was its first institutional investor in 2004.

Detailed information about Harris & Harris Group and its holdings can be found on its website at www.HHVC.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/harrisharrisvc.

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Released September 25, 2013