Propel Biofuels Growth Powered by Coffee?!?

Well, not exactly, but hopefully the headline grabbed your attention...

Companies that are grabbing the most attention in the growing alternative fuels market are fuel developers. Not surprisingly, investors are drawn to the proprietary processes and intellectual property opportunities that promise immense return on investments.

Seattle-based Propel Biofuels, however, is looking to make a name for itself by developing the "last mile" of the biofuels market: getting these new fuels to consumers. Company strategy centers around providing "turn-key" biofuel fueling systems to independent filling stations and non-traditional retail locations. Propel provides equipment, training, marketing at no start up cost to operators.

Two notable Seattle-based companies are intricately intertwined into Propel's future success:

• Imperium Renewables: The leading biodiesel producer (previous posts here and here) provided Propel with a loan to jump start the build out of their distribution strategy. No surprise that Propel will sell Imperium fuel at their stations.
  
• Starbucks: Yes, this is where the coffee headline becomes relevant. In landing $4.75 million in venture funding from @Venture and Nth Power, Propel also got Arthur Rubinfeld as a member of the company’s board of directors. Rubinfeld was previously Executive VP at Starbucks, where he was responsible for the planning and execution of Starbucks’ retail brand design, positioning, real estate, and store growth strategies. With over 3,800 stores worldwide, I suppose he's done a good enough job...

These are, obviously, tremendous assets for Propel. Imperium's leading market position and Rubinfeld's expertise can pay big dividends.

Something to keep your eye on, though. Starbucks became a retail success story by rigorously controlling every aspect of the customer experience, most especially the retail environment. For the time being, Propel is relying on partnerships with independent operators to grow the business. The benefit is access to existing infrastructure. The drawback is an inherent inability to control that all important costumer experience. How well Propel is able to adapt Rubinfeld's expertise is a key issue.