NanoMas Technologies raises $3.2M for nanoparticle inks, printed electronics
NanoMas Technologies makes nanoparticle inks that are used in a variety printed electronic applications, including displays, solar cells and mirrors, and RFID devices. It also produces nanotubes useful in medical devices, drug delivery and other composite materials.
The Vestal, N.Y.-based company was founded in 2006, but this investment was its first full venture funding. BASF Venture Capital led the $3.2 million round, and was joined by Earthrise Capital Partners and NanoMaterials Investors.
Morgenthaler Ventures closes $400M ninth fund
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Morgenthaler Ventures, a Menlo Park, Calif. venture firm focused on early-stage investments in information technology and life sciences, has completed a $400 million raise for its ninth fund to date.
Despite its long-held focus on first investments for young startups, the firm said it will be opening up to more second- and third-round fundings with this fund. However, in this fund Morgenthaler won’t be making private equity investments with its buyout team in Cleveland, OH and… Continue Reading
Solix Biofuels raises $10.5M for algae pilot plant
A Fort Collins, Colo. company called Solix Biofuels has plans to grow algae in closed bioreactors, harvesting as much as 3,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year.
Solix just raised $10.5 million, with a commitment for another $5 million, from a set of investors including the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, on whose reservation they are siting a pilot plant. The company plans to scale up both the size of the pilot and the amount of… Continue Reading
Flipswap takes on $14M to buy your junky old cell phone
If you’re anything like the average Silicon Valley entrepreneur, right now you’ve got an iPhone in your pocket and a pile of old Blackberries in a drawer somewhere. But hopefully, with the help of recycling and resale companies like Flipswap, we’ll no longer keep old phones hanging around or worse, throw them in the trash.
Flipswap just raised $14 million for its business plan of letting you trade in or recycle your old phone as you’re… Continue Reading
PeerApp takes $8M for peer-to-peer traffic policing
PeerApp, an infrastructure company for Internet service providers that helps them deal with peer-to-peer traffic, has raised an $8 million second round of funding less than a year after taking its first.
The company’s UltraBand caching system stores chunks of P2P files locally, so that repeated downloads of popular files don’t overburden the network. Tangential to the needs of the ISPs, the product can also speed up the downloads for the end user.
Over 100 UltraBand systems… Continue Reading
Planet Metrics tracks down carbon hotspots, at home or abroad
Environmentalists like to point out that a person’s carbon footprint is about more than just the CO2 they emit through daily activities like driving or surfing the Internet. It extends to the goods they own, and even the food they eat. The same holds for most companies, Planet Metrics’ core user group for a new carbon information platform.
Companies’ hidden CO2 emissions tend to come from their supply chains, long tails of vendors and manufacturers that… Continue Reading
Indian renewables startup Kotak Urja raises $8M from Kleiner Perkins, Sherpalo
Kotak Urja, a diversified Indian startup that is planning solar power installations as well as making some solar equipment, has raised $8 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures and Applied Materials.
The investment is Kleiner Perkins’ first renewable energy move in India, according to VCCircle. Rather than the tech-heavy companies that the venture firm typically invests in at home, Kotak’s business is weighted more toward reselling or installing existing products in a growing… Continue Reading
Evolution Robotics rolling toward an automated world
Banking on the idea that helper robots will be as ubiquitous in homes and offices as they are today in factories, Evolution Robotics has raised almost $14 million to continue developing both software and hardware for a variety of self-directed machines.
Evolution, an Idealab startup founded by renowned entrepreneur Bill Gross, hit the stage in 2002 with the ER1, a “personal robot system” that was essentially just a laptop mounted in four wheels. Equipped with a… Continue Reading
Second Rotation picks up $6M for electronics recycling and resale
Second Rotation is a service company that buys electronics from consumers for resale on eBay, as well as accepting older, valueless items for recycling. The company, which brands its service as Gazelle, has raised $6 million in a second round of funding.
We covered Gazelle back in July when it took on the new name and launched its service. The company is attempting to establish a recognized brand for resale of all used electronics, where other… Continue Reading
Here are the 2008 California Cleantech Open winners
The California Cleantech Open (CCTO), a yearly competition to identify some of the hottest new startups in green technology, has wrapped up its 2008 session with six winners, each in its own business sector. The six were chosen from 43 finalists, who were in turn drawn from a larger pool.
The CCTO has grown to be a significant event, in part because its sponsors read like a Who’s Who of good contacts to have (Google and… Continue Reading
Xtalic raises $10M for nanocoatings
Xtalic is a Marlborough, Mass. company that makes nano-scale material coatings based off the work of an MIT professor. The company has raised $10 million in a second round of venture funding.
Despite their high-tech origins, Xtalic’s coatings can be applied by customers through a simple electroplating process. The nanocoatings resemble chrome, and can be used for either decorative or protective purposes.
The funding was provided by Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners. A third investor,… Continue Reading
Robeco gets $650M for cleantech fund of funds
Robeco Private Equity, the venture capital division of Robeco, which is in turn owned by Dutch bank Rabobank, has taken $650 million in its second capital raise to date, according to VentureWire.
The firm already backs over 10 venture funds in the portfolio, Robeco Clean Tech Private Equity II Fund. Despite passing its $500 million target, the fund is not yet closed.
The Robeco fund may also invest directly in cleantech deals, including mature companies.
iSkoot gets $19M warchest to launch Web services platform for AT&T
ISkoot, the company that lets you make Skype Internet calls from your mobile phone, has raised $19 million in a third round of venture capital to build an ambitious mobile platform for AT&T.
The platform, to launch in testing Nov. 14, will let the giant operator offer an array of Web services to users of its low-end phones — the majority of its phones, which don’t have the iPhone’s powerful features. The services will include things… Continue Reading
Sierra Ventures puts $7M in Indian car site CarWale
One of the benefits of funding startups in a developing country is being able to invest in businesses that are already well established in your home territory. That’s what Sierra Ventures has done with $7 million in CarWale.com, an Indian car portal.
The site includes tools to research, buy or sell cars, as well as receive loans. CarWale also has community features and forums, although it stops somewhat short of a full social network.
The funding was… Continue Reading
SmartSynch picks up Applied Mesh Technologies
SmartSynch, one of a half-dozen smart grid startups that have raised tens of millions of dollars in funding, has acquired a communications company in Atlanta, Georgia called Applied Mesh Technologies.
Applied Mesh’s specialties include commercial and industrial solutions for managing various types of power networks and load balancing. The company facilitates communication between companies and their utility, as well as providing a “smart car charger” for electric vehicles.
The terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. SmartSynch is… Continue Reading
EnerG2 raises $8.5M for energy storage materials
EnerG2, a Seattle, Wash. company making advanced materials for fuel and energy storage, has raised an $8.5 million round of funding, according to Xconomy.
Various nanomaterials that the company is working on could prove useful for holding methane, hydrogen and other fuels. Other new materials could also be useful for other alternative energy fields, like solar cells.
Initial work at EnerG2 was funded by state and Federal grants. This funding, the company’s first, was proided by OVP… Continue Reading
CaliSolar raises over $100M for planned “dirty” silicon cell factory
There’s a shortage of the pure silicon used to make solar cells, but Sunnyvale, Calif-based CaliSolar doesn’t care. There’s plenty of the less refined stuff — what’s called metallurgical grade silicon — that the company says it can use in its own proprietary cells to generate electricity.
Using metallurgical silicon has more than one advantage. Not only will CaliSolar be able to get around the supply bottlenecks that every traditional photovoltaics manufacturer in the world is… Continue Reading
Tesla absorbs another $40M to keep the motor running
Tesla Motors has looked a bit shaky lately, starting with a staff layoff and an ouster of its CEO a little over two weeks ago and following with reports that the company had only $9 million left in the bank. But lead investor and new CEO Elon Musk has come through on his promise to find more funding for the company, picking up $40 million from existing investors.
The company issued a terse press release last… Continue Reading
Impeva Labs takes $10M for transportation tracking
A step beyond RFID trackers, the “global asset visibility services” that Impeva Labs offers are used for close tracking of valuable assets as they’re shipped or deployed around the globe. The company just raised a $10 million second round to expand.
Impeva makes the Global Sentinel Unit, a single electronic platform that includes several sensors and communication devices as well as an interface to be used in conjunction with other devices. The GSU performs four functions:… Continue Reading
Earth Class Mail raises $5.1M, partners with Swiss Post
For the occasional communications that still get sent via snail mail, startup Earth Class Mail is trying to corner the market for scanning the communications, sending them to users’ email inboxes and recycling the physical copies. The company just raised another $5.1 million in funding, saying it’s on its way to a much larger round, and has started a deal with the Swiss Post to handle that country’s mail.
The Swiss mail carrier will brand Earth… Continue Reading