More greenhouse gas monitoring — Clear Standards lands first funding
With a carbon cap and trade now a near certainty for the United States, investors are rushing to fund companies that will help create the market. A Sterling, Va. company called Clear Standards is the latest, with a new $4 million for an inventory system corporations can use to track their greenhouse gas emissions.
Measuring emissions is becoming a more exact science as companies like this one consolidate studies showing the environmental impact of thousands of… Continue Reading
Smart grid investments come hot and heavy — SmartSynch gets another $20M for talkative electrical meters
Two days ago it was Optimal Technologies with $25 million toward software for electrical grids; today, it’s SmartSynch with $20 million for wirelessly communicating meters. I haven’t gone back and done an official count, but with well over half a dozen large fundings in the past few months, the efficiency-focused smart grid space looks to have emerged as the hot cleantech venture space du jour.
“Smart grid” is a catch-all term for a number of technologies… Continue Reading
Will carbon-trading happen? Goldman hopes so, backs APX
APX, a Silicon Valley company that certifies carbon and emissions offset certificates, and which is well-placed to support carbon-trading markets when they emerge, has gotten backing from Goldman Sachs in a $14 million investment, VentureBeat has learned.
Carbon trading is a growing business that could someday come to resemble the world’s largest financial markets.
Today’s emissions markets are generally small and fragmented. In regional U.S. energy markets, utilities are already required to buy electricity from alternative energy… Continue Reading
Altierre raises $17M to push wireless infrastructure for retailers
Altierre, a San Jose provider of wireless infrastructure for retailers, said it has raised $17 million in a second round of financing led by the D. E. Shaw group.
DuPont Capital Management and existing investors ATA Ventures, Kinetic Ventures and Labrador Ventures, also invested. The funding follows a $13 million first round in January 2005.
Retailers are experiencing a revolution in wireless technology, the company said in a statement. Low-power chips, long-range RFID-based wireless networks and… Continue Reading