Green technology rages
Investments into new green technology companies tripled last year, and the trend continues unabated.
The President is pushing for alternative energy investments, and Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth gets nominated for two Oscars, which will only add fuel to the fire. The spigot is fully open. We’ve seen more green-related fundings today than ever before. Here are the latest:
–See our story today about A123Systems, the lithium-ion battery company that wants to make better electric cars. It just got $40M.
–Nexterra Energy, of Vancouver, a developer of waste-to-energy gasification systems, has just raised $6.8 million in a third round led by ARC Financial.
–Sopogy, a Honolulu developer of solar concentration technology, has emerged from a long incubation period (six years) and received $3 million in angel financing, according to VentureWire (sub required)
–Sulfurcell, a Berlin solar module maker, using thin-film solar technology (which lets you essentially paint solar cells onto roofs and parking lots), has raised under $10 million in a second round of funding. Masdar Clean Tech Fund LP, managed by Credit Suisse Group, led the round, and previous investors, including angel investor Engelbert Giesen, IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Vattenfall Europe AG and Ventegis Capital, also participated. It has raised a total of $32 million to date. Silicon Valley companies Miasole and Nanosolar are doing similar things.
–Vancouver’s Day4 Energy, has raised $11 million more to market its highly efficient solar panels. British Columbia Discovery Fund led the round, after having invested $2.8 million earlier.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
