VentureBeat

Standard Solar raises $8.5M for solar systems

In a sign investors may be warming up again to the residential and commercial photovoltaics market now that Congress has finally approved the extension of renewable tax credits, Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Standard Solar has secured $8.5 million in second round funding from Truecast Capital and a number of private and institutional investors.

The money will be used to fund the firm’s expansion into new markets and to scale up its production capacity. The company, which sells and… Continue Reading

Novozymes gets $12.3M for cellulosic ethanol enzymes

In many ways, commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production still seems a long way off. It’s still marked by high costs and low efficiencies. But these limitations haven’t dissuaded prominent investors from taking the plunge, with VCs like Khosla Ventures pouring over $400 million into startups like Verenium, Mascoma, Range Fuels and Coskata in recent months.

Even the Department of Energy (DoE) has gotten into the game, granting a $12.3 million contract yesterday to Danish chemicals company Novozymes,… Continue Reading

Redwood Systems gets $4M for commercial building LEDs

Redwood Systems, a Danville, Calif.-based firm that wants to help businesses conserve energy by converting to LED lighting, has raised $4 million in first round funding, according to PEHub.

While compact fluorescent lightbulbs (or CFLs, as they’re more commonly known) are a major improvement over incandescents, most analysts and building experts believe LEDs are the future of energy-efficient lighting. And if VC investments are any indication, then it looks as though that transition could be coming… Continue Reading

Distributed energy is the future of renewable energy production, says Ecovolve

Biochar: Remember that word. While it may not be part of most investors’ vocabulary, biochar, a form of charcoal produced when organic matter is burned in the absence of oxygen, can store carbon and increase soil fertility — making it a more ideal alternative to some costly and complex carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Ecovolve has the idea of pairing the production of biochar with the development of small-scale distributed energy systems.

The New York… Continue Reading

Wind Power Holdings snags $37M for wind turbines

As the rest of the economy tanks, the cleantech sector has remained buoyant, with investors continuing to dump cash into wind, solar and other renewable energies. Banking on a recent wave of enthusiasm for wind power, Barre, Vt.-based Northern Power Systems announced that its parent company, Wind Power Holdings, has raised $37 million in first round funding.

The round was co-led by Allen & Company and RockPort Capital Partners. The proceeds will be used to expand… Continue Reading

Ostara secures $10.5M for wastewater-to-fertilizer technology

Vancouver, Canada-based Ostara Nutrient Recovery Systems is the latest in a series of companies to make its business converting waste into useful products — in this case by removing nutrients, like phosophorus, from wastewater and recycling them into fertilizer. The water treatment firm has just raised $10.5 million in private equity financing from VantagePoint Venture Partners and Foursome Investments Limited.

Ostara will use the funding to begin installing its technology in North American wastewater treatment plants…. Continue Reading

Electric Power Research Institute gets $1.7M for wave power research

The Department of Energy (DoE) has been conspicuously doling out grants left and right to support several clean energy initiatives in recent months. The latest beneficiary, to the tune of $1.7 million, is the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which will use the funds to develop and test advanced water power technologies.

EPRI will use the first $1.2 million grant, which will be awarded over a two-year period, to continue the development of… Continue Reading

Sencera nabs another $15.6M for solar cells

While the overall economy may be in a bad spot, investments in green funds and renewable energy startups are showing little sign of waning, with solar firms like SoloPower, Nanosolar and AVA Solar leading the way. Its financial prowess may not match that of its better established competitors, but Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sencera isn’t doing too badly either, capping a second round of funding with $15.6 million from Quercus Trust.

The round will help the company… Continue Reading

Pentadyne Power raises $22M for flywheel energy storage

Pentadyne Power, a Chatsworth, Calif.-based developer of flywheel energy storage systems, has just closed a $22 million financing round, led by return investors. The company didn’t disclose the identity of its backers though it has previously received support from Rustic Canyon Partners, Loudwater Investment Partners, Nth Power, Energy Innovation Portfolio and others.

It will use the proceeds to expand its operations overseas and to increase its sales of existing and new systems. Flywheel systems, an alternative… Continue Reading

Brammo raises $10M for electric motorcycles

It may not sound as impressive as Fisker Automotive’s whopping $65 million haul, but Brammo’s $10 million first round, led by Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Best Buy Venture Capital (yes, you read that correctly) and others, is nothing to sneeze at. The Ashland, Ore.-based developer of the Enertia, a lightweight GPS-equipped, web-enabled electric bike that gets 35-45 miles per charge, says that the proceeds will be enough to allow it to go into production and… Continue Reading

NanoH2O secures $15M for desalination

It’s a testament to how much traction the once dormant water sector has gained that desalination, not long ago considered a risky, prohibitively expensive technology, is getting second looks from some high-profile investors. NanoH2O, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based developer of reverse-osmosis membranes, is the latest beneficiary of this trend, announcing earlier this week that it had raised $15.05 million in second round funding from Oak Investment Partners and Khosla Ventures.

The company, which was spun off… Continue Reading

BioPetroClean raises $5M for biological water purification

BioPetroClean, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based water purification company, has closed its second round of financing with $5 million from 21 Ventures, which invested $3.5 million in its first round. The money will help the company set up a sales network and fund a number of new projects, according to Globes.

Founded in 2006, the company uses a biological technology, called Active Chemostat Treatment (ACT), to treat waste water in oil sludge and other organic pollutants. BPC… Continue Reading

Atlantis Resources nearing deployment of first commercial tidal energy installation

While largely overshadowed last week by the leaking of Google’s patent application for a floating, wave-powered data center, a deal by Singapore-based tidal energy developer Atlantis Resources to acquire Current Resources means we could be moving closer to seeing the first commercial-scale turbine farm built under the ocean.

The deal will allow Atlantis to scale up its operations and to deliver its first large projects by combining its technological know-how with Current Resources’ expertise in project… Continue Reading

Eco-Products gobbles up $2M for compostable food items

With organic, locally-produced food items in high demand, it was only a matter of time before an enterprising startup or two took the next logical step: greening the supply chain. Eco-Products, a Boulder, Colo.-based maker of compostable food service supplies, has put the wraps on a $2 million first round of funding with Boulder-based Greenmont Capital Partners.

The proceeds will be used to expand the company’s operations and to finance the opening of its first department… Continue Reading

Centria and Uni Solar carve a niche in the architectural photovoltaics market with EnergyPeak

Far from the glare of Silicon Valley’s hype-laden funding rounds, several companies have quietly been making inroads into the growing BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic) market by focusing on two core principles: simplicity and low installation costs. One of these, United Solar Ovonic, a developer of thin-film solar laminates, has combined forces with Centria Services, a maker of standing seam roof panels, to create EnergyPeak: a solar standing seam roof system.

The benefits are pretty self-evident: The… Continue Reading

Nexterra raises C$3.8M for biomass gasification

Nexterra, a Vancouver, B.C.-based developer of low cost gasification systems, has wrapped up a C$3.8 million ($3.6 million) fourth round of funding, courtesy of Calgary, Alberta-based investor ARC Financial Corp. This raises ARC’s total investment in Nexterra to well over $19 million.

The company’s gasification technology takes wood chips and other biomass waste products and converts them into clean-burning syngas (short for “synthetic gas”), which can be used to produce electricity and useable heat. The syngas… Continue Reading

Xunlight raises another $11M for thin-film solar modules

Xunlight is on a roll: Only a few weeks after disclosing that it had raised $4.97 million from Ohio’s Third Frontier Projects, the Toledo-based developer of flexible, low cost thin-film silicon modules has secured another $11 million in third round funding from a group of institutional investors, led by Rabo Ventures. Returning investors included Trident Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures.

The company plans on using the funds to expand its manufacturing operations; it currently operates a… Continue Reading

Europe’s largest onshore wind farm is coming to Romania

Taking a page from T. Boone Pickens, who made waves when he announced that he was building the world’s largest wind farm in Texas, Continental Wind Partners and CEZ Group have concluded a deal to create Europe’s largest onshore farm, with a total capacity of 600 megawatts (onshore farms tend to be in hilly areas 3 km or more inland from the shoreline while offshore farms are 10 km or more from land).

As part of… Continue Reading

Makani Power takes in $5M for high-altitude wind energy

Stealth startup Makani Power, an Alameda, Calif.-based wind energy company, has secured $5 million in second round funding from returning investor Google.org. The 24-member firm, which is playing its plans very close to the vest, has only revealed that it is building huge wing-shaped kites to harness the energy from high-altitude wind.

By some estimates, all the energy contained in wind could satisfy our needs 100-fold, with most coming from high-altitude wind. Tapping into just 1… Continue Reading

Attero raises $6.3M for e-waste recycling

With the U.S. economy still in the doldrums, venture firms are increasingly looking abroad to capital-starved developing markets for new growth opportunities — with India and China quickly emerging as the main beneficiaries. Enter Attero, a Noida, India-based e-waste recycler, which has just snagged a $6.3 million first round cash infusion from VC heavyweight Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA-IndoUS Ventures, a Bangalore-based venture firm that provides early to mid-stage funding to Indian start-ups.

The company, whose… Continue Reading