Fisker trumps Tesla with $528M loan from Energy Dept.

Fisker trumps Tesla with $528M loan from Energy Dept.

In a somewhat unexpected move, the U.S. Department of Energy has granted luxury plug-in hybrid-electric car maker Fisker Automotive a $528.7 million conditional loan to finance the development of two different car models. As part of the stimulus package, the money — announced today by… Continue Reading

Electric car maker Fisker nails down plans for 2011 profitability

Electric car maker Fisker nails down plans for 2011 profitability

Fisker Automotive, prime Tesla Motors competitor and maker of the luxury plug-in hybrid vehicle known as the Karma, has announced plans to sell 15,000 cars and apply for government funds in order to hit profitability by 2011. The Southern California company plans to launch production… Continue Reading

Trilliant buys SkyPilot to extend its smart grid reach

Trilliant, provider of devices and networks that allow smart meters to beam energy data directly to utilities, has extended its reach with the acquisition of SkyPilot Networks, provider of mesh broadband coverage. No financial terms have been disclosed. Both companies had previously raised a substantial… Continue Reading

Fisker ekes out $3M to put finishing touches on its swanky electric car

Fisker ekes out $3M to put finishing touches on its swanky electric car

Fisker Automotive, maker of a luxury plug-in hybrid vehicle called the Karma, has squeezed an additional $3 million out of its private investors, bringing its total capital raised to more than $100 million — a staggering feat considering the state of the credit market. The… Continue Reading

Revance absorbs $8M for topical Botox

Aesthetic drug developer Revance Therapeutics has landed $8 million in venture debt financing from Leader Ventures and Horizon Technology Finance. The money will be used to push its lead compound, a topical form of botulinum toxin type A (popularly known as Botox), through clinical stage… Continue Reading

High-end electric car company Fisker gets a $65M boost

High-end electric car company Fisker gets a $65M boost

Tesla Motors may have significant competition in the high-end electric vehicle space soon, if Fisker Automotive continues on its current path. The Irvine, Calif. sports car company just announced another $65 million in funding, led by a Middle Eastern firm, the Qatar Investment Authority.

Design work… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Topical Botox maker Revance gets $43M, option to be acquired by Medicis (release)
Reva Medical draws $42M for resorbable stents (release)
AccentCare raises $8M for senior home-care services (VentureWire, sub req’d)
Light Dimensions aims for $6M for light-based skin treatment (VW)
Carigent pulls in $2M for nanoparticle drugs… Continue Reading

LightFull Foods raises $1M more for health beverages

San Francisco-based health beverage company LightFull Foods raised an extra $1 million in addition, adding to the $6.1 million second round of financing it recently raised last year.

Burrill & Co. led the latest investment, which included Prolog Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, Great Spirit Ventures, Unilever… Continue Reading

Paracor raises $44M for heart-failure device that restrains the heart

Paracor raises $44M for heart-failure device that restrains the heart

(UPDATED: See below.) Paracor Medical, a Sunnyvale, Calif., startup developing a mesh restraint designed to support failing hearts, raised $44.35 million in a fourth round of funding. The company is vying with another device startup, Acorn Cardiovascular, to prove that this sort of device works and to… Continue Reading