Cambrios lands $14.5M for electronic display components
Cambrios, maker of conductive films used in electronic displays and monitors, has brought in $14.5 million in a fourth round of venture capital. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company is backed by ARCH Venture Partners, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Alloy Ventures, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Headland Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Kidron, Lux Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Presidio Ventures, Sumitomo, Chisso and Nissha Printing.
Navy taps Solazyme to make jet fuel out of algae
The Pentagon announced today that it has chosen San Francisco-based biofuel company Solazyme to supply the Navy with jet fuel made entirely of algae derivatives. This isn’t the first time it has worked with the military, having already had its research and development funded by the Navy in exchange for 20,000 gallons of fuel for its ships.
The oils produced by Solazyme’s algae act as a full replacement for petroleum-based fuel, not simply an additive. Some… Continue Reading
Spray-on solar ink is coming soon — to paint on roofs and generate energy
[Update: We've clarified this story to make clear that Innovalight is not involved with this project]
Technology to turn light-absorbing materials into nano-size particles to make so-called solar ink that can be sprayed on to roofs to generate energy, is apparently only three to five years from becoming a reality.
At least, that’s according to Brian Korgel, an entrepreneur and chemical engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. Korgel tells LiveScience that his project, which has… Continue Reading
Solazyme wins big with $57M for renewable oil
Solazyme, producer of renewable oil derived from algae, just raised $57 million in third-round funding to bring its total capital to more than $76 million. In addition to producing so-called green fuels, the San Bruno, Calif., company is expanding its eco-friendly chemicals business — an increasingly common move for companies in the biofuel space. It is also exploring nutritional and cosmetics opportunities.
The bulk of the funding came from VantagePoint Venture Partners, which has made a… Continue Reading
CFX Battery stores away $11M for rechargeable tech
CFX Battery, a company that uses nanotechnology to develop primary and rechargeable battery technology, just took an $11 million tranche of an anticipated $15.18 million round of funding. Contributors included CMEA Ventures, Harris & Harris Group and US Venture Partners.
Based in Pasadena, Calif., CFX spun out from research at the California Institute of Technology. The batteries it produces are tailored for use in cars, medical devices and consumer goods (like computers), as well as in… Continue Reading
Algal biofuel firm Solazyme scores $45M
Solazyme, a South San Francisco, Calif. company that makes biofuels and other products from algae, has raised $45 million or more toward its latest funding, according to VentureWire.
Early this year, Solazyme entered into a partnership with Chevron to develop its fuels. The company has also tested its biodiesel on the road in a standard diesel car, and has plans for product lines outside of the fuels, including nutrition.
Also having taken funding to create fuel from… Continue Reading
Nextreme Thermal raises $13M for chip cooling tech
Excessive heat on semiconductors and other electronics has led the tech industry to adopt a number of clever but indirect work-arounds, but Nextreme Thermal says it can directly cool off specific areas that overheat.
The Durman, N.C. company uses the Peltier Effect to cool down devices, which uses flowing electrons to achieve an effect somewhat similar to gas expanding. The movement of electricity from one part of a Nextreme-designed chip to another helps to dump excess… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
PolyRemedy, developer of robotic wound care, takes in $25M (release)
Bacchus Vascular gets $15M for clot-busting device (VentureWire)
Protein-evolution company Modular Genetics gets $1.2M (VentureWire)
PharmatrophiX gets $300K for Alzheimer’s disease prevention drugs (release)
Light Sciences Oncology withdraws IPO (Edgar)
Arizona’s Translational Accelerator launches $20M life-sciences fund (bizjournals.com)
Cornea-reshaper Avedro gets $7M (VentureWire)
Gastrotech Pharma gets $6M in wake of Lilly deal (VentureWire)
Biomaterials maker MiMedx goes public via reverse merger (release)
Acrongenomics to complete acquisition of Molecular Vision by the end of… Continue Reading
Innovalight raises $28M for new ink-based solar cell
Innovalight, a Silicon Valley company that says it has come up with new solar cell with nano-particles of silicon, has raised a large $28 million round of capital and said it plans to open a 30,000 square foot manufacturing facility next year.Innovalight is still being very vague on the details of its technology, and it’s very late to the game. There are already more than a dozen other large companies and start-ups that are developing… Continue Reading
Kovio raises $19.4M for printed electronics
Kovio, a Sunnyvale, Calif. developer of semiconductor products using thin-film technologies, or “printed electronics,” has raised $19.5 million in the first part of a fourth (series D) round of funding, according to a press release.
Pinnacle Ventures led the deal, which included previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, DAG Ventures, DEA Capital, Flagship Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, NCD Investors and Yasuda Enterprise Development, according to the report. Since… Continue Reading
BridgeLux, another clean-light company — but faces lawsuit
BridgeLux, maker of chips for “light emitting diodes” that are environmentally cleaner lighting sources than standard lightbulbs, has raised a $23 million third round of funding, according to VentureWire (subscription required).
It joins the rush of other LED companies, including D.lightdesign (coverage), Quanlight (coverage), Intematix (raised $25 million from DFJ and Crosslink), Group IV Semiconductor ($8.2M from Khosla Ventures and BDC Capital). Yet another company, publicly traded Cree, has sued BridgeLux for patent infringement.
The BridgeLux round… Continue Reading
Xradia raises $7M for 3D x-ray microscopes and imaging
Xradia, a Concord, Calif company that sells high resolution 3D x-ray microscopes and fluorescence imaging systems, has raised $7.0 million in a fourth round of funding.
Investors included Harris & Harris Group, Inc. an unnamed strategic investor and a prior round investor.
Here is the company’s statement.