Solar ink maker Innovalight shines with $15M
Innovalight, a Sunnyvale, Calif. company that has developed solar ink (made of liquid-like solar cells) capable of being printed onto conducting surfaces to generate power, has brought in $15 million of an anticipated $20 million round of equity and rights, according to a filing with the SEC.
This brings the company’s total raised to $55 million, with backers including Arch Venture Partners, Apax Partners, Convexa Capital, Harris & Harris, Seven Rosen Funds, Leader Ventures and Silicon… Continue Reading
Innovalight pushes solar ink to record efficiency
Innovalight, maker of liquid-like silicon cells that convert sunlight into energy, announced that its product has achieved 18 percent efficiency, a record for so-called solar inks. Given that typical solar panels are 12 percent efficient on average, this is quite the achievement — especially considering all of the unique applications for solar cells that you can print straight onto silicon.
Verified by both the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Reneable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Germany’s Fraunhofer… Continue Reading
Stealthy Adesto lands $14M for fabless semiconductors
Adesto Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company that’s so secretive that there’s no content on its web site, has raised $14 million in equity and warrants, according to a regulatory filing. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the three-year-old company has a pretty healthy funding history. It raised $6 millon in 2007 and another $5.5 million in 2008 in seen money from Arch Venture Partners, Harris & Harris, Adams Street Partners and Applied Ventures. It’s unclear whether any… 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
The future of solar is nanotech: Nanogram, Sunflake and other upcoming technologies
With a fresh $32 million funding going to nanotechnoloy firm NanoGram, mainly for development of next-generation solar cells, it’s a good time to point out some up-and-coming technologies that work on very small scales to make photovoltaic cells more efficient.
NanoGram has already had several commercial successes, including inventions in both electronics and medicine. However, the company has of late turned its sights on boosting the efficiency of solar cells.
The company is working on ultra-thin crystalline… Continue Reading
Xradia, high-res 3D x-ray imaging systems, raises $4M
Xradia, a Concord, Calif company that sells high resolution 3D x-ray microscopes and fluorescence imaging systems for the semiconductor and biology industries, has raised $4 million.
Lead investor in this fourth round of funding was Harris & Harris Group.
Harris & Harris Group has so far focused its investments in “tiny technology, including nanotechnology, microsystems and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).”
Here is the company’s announcement.
Previously, Xradia raised about $5 million in angel funding and about $5 million from grant… Continue Reading