VentureBeat

Marrone Organic Innovations raises $10M for green pesticides

Marrone Organic Innovations, a Davis, Calif.-based based maker of natural pesticides and weed killers, has wrapped up a $10 million second round of funding and expects a second closing of $1 million later this month. The round was led by Stuart Mill Venture Partners and Contrarian Group; returning investors included One Earth Capital, Saffron Hill Ventures, Clean Pacific Ventures, Wavepoint Ventures and local angel investors.

Marrone will use the proceeds to develop and commercialize six new… Continue Reading

Small technology, big impact: MemPro Ceramics’ catalytic filters aim to clean up the energy and automotive industries

The next big cleantech innovation may, ironically, come from a company that thinks small. Nanotechnology, a multidisciplinary field of applied science that operates at the atomic or molecular level, is increasingly making the leap from the lab setting to the startup phase, with firms like MemPro Ceramics, a maker of catalytic filters, trying to blaze a new industry.

The company, founded in 2001 and based in Copper Mountain, Colo., uses a ceramic nanofiber filtration technology licensed… Continue Reading

Changing World Technologies, a maker of biodiesel and fertilizers, files for $100M IPO

Proving that there’s still life in the ailing IPO market — well, at least in the cleantech sector — Changing World Technologies, a West Hempstead, New York-based maker of biodiesel and organic fertilizers, has filed papers with the SEC to raise up to $100 million. It has not yet disclosed the number of shares it plans on selling or its ticker symbol, but says that it expects to trade on the NASDAQ or NYSE Arca.

CWT… Continue Reading

Jiangsu Shunda, a maker of solar components, plans to raise $1B from IPO

Jiangsu Shunda, a Yangzhou, China-based manufacturer of solar equipment, has set its sights high for its upcoming IPO, telling Reuters that it plans on raising $1 billion from its listing on the NYSE during the first half of 2009.

The company supplies silicon wafers to several major international solar cell makers, such as China’s Suntech Power, which holds a 15 percent stake in Shunda, and Germany’s Q-Cells. Shunda also sells PV modules, graphite, polysilicon and crucibles.

It… Continue Reading

Ausra rakes in $24.5M for solar thermal power

A little over a month after opening its first 130,000-square-foot factory in Las Vegas, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ausra, a developer of utility-level solar thermal power, has raised $24.5 million in a third roundof  funding from returning investors Khosla Ventures and KPCB. New investor KERN Partners, based in Alberta, Canada, also joined the round.

The company plans on raising more money — enough to bring its total closer to $50 million, according to Earth2Tech — during the… Continue Reading

ReCellular dials up $15M for cell phone recycling

Don’t throw away that used mobile phone just yet — chances are ReCellular, a Dexter, Mich.-based phone recycling firm, can help find it a new home. One of the world’s leading cell phone recyclers, it has just raised $15 million in first round funding from Investor Growth Capital.

ReCellular plans on using the proceeds to ramp up its revenue growth, which, at an 8-year average of 25 percent, is already nothing to sneeze at, and to… Continue Reading

Ontario makes dark horse bid for North American cleantech crown

While the United States has remained at an impasse over the extension of its clean energy tax credits, the Canadian province of Ontario has been busy positioning itself as a go-to destination for cleantech’s mountains of cash.

Ontario initiated a flurry of incentive programs aimed at increasing its overall renewable energy production capacity in early 2004 through its 20-year energy plan, dubbed the Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP). Its goals were to obtain an extra 5… Continue Reading

First Wind files for $450M IPO

It’s been a busy time for cleantech IPOs. Several companies, including GT Solar, Noble Environmental Power and Real Goods Solar, have thrown their hats in the ring in recent weeks — though often with little success. The latest is First Wind, a Newton, Mass.-based wind power developer, which has just filed for a $450 million IPO.

Its co-lead underwriters are Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan; it will trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol… Continue Reading

Specialized Technology Resources, a maker of solar equipment, files for $300M IPO

Specialized Technology Resources (STR) Holdings, an Enfield, Conn.-based manufacturer of solar cell encapsulants, has filed for an IPO that could be worth as much as $300 million in common stock. It plans to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PVS”; Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse will serve as its co-lead underwriters.

Founded in 1945, the company sells Photocap encapsulants, protective sheets for solar cells that are typically made of glass, to many of the… Continue Reading

FTL Solar raises $250,000 for thin-film solar

FTL Solar, a New York-based maker of thin-film solar cells, has secured $250,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). In total, the company has received over $450,000 in funding from NYSERDA for R&D efforts.

The well-capitalized firm, which recently closed its first round of funding, develops a variety of solar modules and systems, including its proprietary solar “pavilions,” for commercial and military use.

Its devices are scalable, durable and, most important, easy… Continue Reading

H2scan raises $4M for hydrogen monitoring technology

H2scan, a Valencia, Calif.-based maker of hydrogen sensing devices, has received $4 million in fourth round funding from Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, H5 Capital, Tri-Strip Associates, TGB Partners and Ravinia Venture Fund. Members of the Tech Coast and Pasadena Angels also joined the round; all but TGB Partners are returning investors.

H2scan will use the proceeds to expand its R&D, production and sales and marketing operations and to purchase additional equipment. The company is leveraging its… Continue Reading

Waste Remedies raises $7.5M for waste management consulting

Waste Remedies, a St. Louis, MO-based firm that helps businesses reduce their waste management costs and inefficiencies, has secured $7.25 million in second round funding from Advantage Capital Partners, working in partnership with Southwest Bank.

The proceeds will be used to expand the company’s 12-person team and to upgrade its financial software, CEO Tim Gray said. Waste Remedies works with manufacturers, restaurants, property managers and retailers to provide waste removal and recycling services.

It helps reduce its… Continue Reading

HelioVolt hopes for a fast scale-up with high-efficiency CIGS process

updated, with correction

These are heady times for the thin-film solar industry. The sector’s dominant player, First Solar, has been on a tear of late, recently announcing it would build a second 10 megawatt power plant in Nevada, while Miasole, once thought to be ailing, has staged an impressive comeback, raking in an eye-popping $220 million. Nanosolar has developed a new ultra-fast solar cell printer, and even giants like IBM and Applied Materials have gotten in… Continue Reading

CarbonFlow raises $2.9M for carbon trading software

CarbonFlow, a San Francisco, Calif.-based developer of carbon trading software, has secured $2.9 million in first round funding. It was led by Clean Pacific Ventures, with OVP Venture Partners and New Zealand-based Meridian Energy, a strategic partner, also taking part. One of the firm’s cofounders is CNET Green Tech contributor Neal Dikeman.

The company’s software suite helps carbon market participants manage their emission-reducing projects and sell credits that are in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol or… Continue Reading

Athenix raises $10M for biofuels and specialty chemicals

Athenix, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based maker of processes and products for agricultural and bioenergy applications, has raked in $10 million from existing investors Hunt Ventures, Intersouth Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, reports PEHub.

The company sells genes and enzymes that can be used to convert biomass sources, such as corn stover,  straw and various agricultural by-products into cellulosic ethanol. It has also developed a process to efficiently extract and ferment sugars from cellulose and… Continue Reading

Marquiss Wind Power acquires Cirrus Technologies

Folsom, Calif.-based Marquiss Wind Power, a manufacturer of roof-top wind turbines, has scooped up Carson City, Nev.-based Cirrus Technologies, a player in the small wind sector. The holder of 7 patents, Cirrus is testing its turbine technology for a major utility.

Founded in 2006, Marquiss Wind Power currently sells 2 versions of its ducted wind turbine, Aeropoint, to business customers. The two models, AeropointT500 and AeropointT1000, generate 5 kW and 10 kW, respectively. A third version,… Continue Reading

GreenRoad Technologies raises $3M for fuel economy and driver safety technology

GreenRoad Technologies, a Redwood Shores, Calif.-based firm with offices in Israel and London, has added another $3 million in funding to its $14.5 million third round, courtesy of Amadeus Capital Partners. The European VC joins previous investors Virgin Green Fund, Benchmark Capital and Balderton Capital.

The company, which provides in-vehicle sensors and web-based services aimed at reducing crashes and improving fuel economy, will use the proceeds to expand its sales and marketing operations and R&D efforts…. Continue Reading

Deerpath Energy raises $3.5M for small wind turbines

Deerpath Energy, a Marblehead, Mass.-based developer of micro-wind turbines, has raised $3.5 million in funding from RockPort Capital Partners. Little else is known about the wind startup, which was founded earlier this year by Kellogg Warner.

The company seeks to carve itself a niche in the booming wind market by appealing to small communities and businesses. By focusing on small, community-scale projects, Deerpath would largely avoid many of the logistical issues and costs attendant to building… Continue Reading

LanzaTech taps carbon monoxide emissions to produce ethanol

At first glance, LanzaTech’s plan to use bacterial fermentation to convert waste gas emissions into bio-ethanol doesn’t seem all that different from the waste-to-biofuel processes developed by other startups, like SequesCO and GreenFuel Technologies.

Trap a large quantity of emissions from a power plant, pipe them to algae or bacteria contained in either a pond or bioreactor, add a few nutrients and voila! You now have a ready supply of biofuels. Unlike its competitors, however, Auckland,… Continue Reading

Xunlight secures $4.9M for thin-film solar modules

Following up on its recent $22 million haul, the Toledo, Ohio-based Xunlight Corporation has received another $4.9 million, courtesy of Ohio’s taxpayers. The company, a spin-off from the University of Toledo, is backed by Trident Capital, Emerald Technology Ventures and NGP Energy Technology Partners and has also received R&D funding from the US DOE, Department of Commerce and Ohio Department of Development.

The state’s Research Commercialization Program grant is meant to help the firm begin implementing… Continue Reading