Epyon raises funding to speed vehicle battery charging
Epyon, a developer and manufacturer of fast battery chargers for super-fast plug-in hybrid and full-electric vehicles, has raised a “multi-million” dollar venture round led by Chrysalix Energy.
Based in the Netherlands, Epyon’s chargers can supposedly reduce charging time to 10 to 15 minutes, versus five to 10 hours for current batteries.
The system also includes other components. The energy for charging is first stored up on-site to avoid overloading the electrical grid, which requires storage mediums like… Continue Reading
ReliOn raises $23M for hydrogen fuel cells
Update for April 28: The total amount taken by ReliOn for this round came to $23 million, according to John Cook. Additional funding was provided by PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund and Robeco Clean Tech Private Equity.
Original post from March 31: ReliOn, a Spokane-based fuel cell maker that helps provide backup power for communications companies and air traffic control towers, has taken over $17 million in a round that will likely be the company’s… Continue Reading
BridgeLux, a high-efficiency LED maker, adds on $40M
BridgeLux has secured a hefty $40 million round to use for product development and expansion, despite facing ongoing patent litigation from giant LED maker Cree.
BridgeLux, like Cree, makes the chip that is the light-emitting part of LEDs, which it then sells to other firms. The company’s chips are predominantly in electronics and automotive applications, but are also being delivered for use in general lighting for homes and businesses.
The funding is notable because it’s one of… Continue Reading
Purfresh adds on $5M for clean food and water
Purfresh, a Livermore, Calif. company that makes ozone equipment for purification of food and water, has added on $5 million to close out its $25 million third financing.
The company is busy expanding into Europe, although its CEO told VentureBeat a couple months ago that it could be profitable “tomorrow afternoon” if it stuck to business at home.
Perella Weinberg Partners added the $5 million investment. The investors in the remaining $20 million were Chilton Investment Co,… Continue Reading
Fat Spaniel bulks up with $18 million, plans expansion to Europe
Along with alternative energy generation comes a host of attendant technologies, from storage and transmission, to grid management, and measurement and analysis. Fat Spaniel is in that final category, with a set of tools used to measure power output of installations like solar cells.
The company has taken a substantial $18 million second round of funding, which it plans to use to expand in Europe and reach profitability in mid-2009. It has done more than a… Continue Reading
Purfresh raises large financing round to make food safer
Purfresh is the new name of Novazone, a Livermore, Calif., company that disinfects and protects water and fresh produce, and which is expanding to cover more aspects of the food business.
Purfresh offers one of a number of companies rushing to find new, efficient ways to clean pathogens from food supplies. People and businesses are becoming less tolerant of harsh chemical cleansers that have been used for such purposes, in part because of sensitivity about the… Continue Reading
Akermin raises $5M for fuel-cell bioenzymes
NOTE: This item also appears in Monday’s daily briefing at VentureBeat Life Sciences.
Akermin, a St. Louis developer of new biocatalytic enzymes, raised $5 million in a second tranche of its first funding round. Investors included Prolog Ventures, OnPoint Technologies, Chrysalix Energy and the St. Louis Arch Angels.
Akermin works with catalytic enzymes — molecules that speed particular chemical reactions — developed with biotechnology that could replace precious-metal catalysts now used in fuel cells. The company is developing… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007
Featured companies: Akermin, Fluxion Biosciences, iCardiacTechnologies, Wellocities
UPDATED: Expanded items on Fluxion, Akermin, and Wellocities.
Fluxion Bio draws in $6.9M for cell-analysis tools — Fluxion Biosciences, a San Francisco developer of cellular-analysis tools, raised $6.9 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Investors included Kodiak Venture Partners, Claremont Creek Ventures and Life Science Angels.
Fluxion takes the idea of running chemical reactions against living cells — a key step in screening and analyzing the activity of drug… Continue Reading
Fat Spaniel raises $3.5 million more for solar monitoring technology
Fat Spaniel, the San Jose start-up that helps energy and other companies manage the distribution and billing of energy usage, has raised $3.5 million more from Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s cleantech fund, DFJ Element, and Chrysalix Energy.
Fat Spaniel serves the distributed renewable energy area, including solar.
The funding follows a $3.5 million injection in April (scroll down) by DFJ Element, and so gives the start-up a total of $7 million in venture backing (here is the company’s… Continue Reading