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
CoolSystems dashes ahead with $2M for sports medicine
CoolSystems, a medical device maker focused on treating post-surgical orthopedic sports injuries, has brought in $2 million of a targeted $3 million round of debt and rights, reports VentureWire. The Alameda, Calif., company last raised funding in August 2007, bringing in $3 million in a seventh round of venture funding from Maxwell Trust, MedVenture Associates and Roda Group, among others.
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
Ravenflow lands $6M for app development intelligence
Ravenflow, a company that offers software and consulting services to help client businesses develop applications more efficiently , has raised $6 million in capital to open two new offices in Reston, Va. and Raleigh, N.C.
It’s primary product, a software package called RAVEN, helps teams at large companies like IBM agree on standards, requirements and specifications — streamlining the process for launching applications online. In addition to its new offices, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company has opened… Continue Reading
Moving into web video communication, Logitech buys SightSpeed for $30 million
Logitech International has acquired Internet video communication firm SightSpeed for $30 million.
Switzerland-based Logitech, which makes computer mice and other peripherals, will get access to SightSpeed’s video calling technology. SightSpeed makes it easy to conduct video conferences between multiple parties over the web. The deal is subject to closing conditions and is expected to finalize in early November.
Junien Labrousse, executive vice president of Logitech’s products group, said that the deal would significantly increase the company’s video… 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
MySpace apps: SightSpeed releases video chat
SightSpeed, a desktop-based video conferencing application, tomorrow launches SightSpeed Light (see screenshot below), a widget video conferencing app, on the Myspace application platform.
SightSpeed Light provides a Flash-based free video chat and video mail between MySpace users, but it is also integrated with SightSpeed on the desktop. The company has plans to relase the widget on social networks LinkedIn, Salesforce, Plaxo, Orkut, Hi5 and others, but so far it doesn’t have a date for these releases.
Last… Continue Reading
Ravenflow, an app delivery specialist, pulls in $5M
Ravenflow falls somewhere between a software maker and consulting firm, with its enterprise software package that helps businesses streamline the process of getting new applications rolled out.
The product, RAVEN, helps teams at companies like IBM to agree on standards, requirements and specifications, and reduce the amount of time needed to put an application online.
Along with the funding announcement the company brought on a new chief executive. Susan Boers was formerly the president of Telelogic.
The $5… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 6, 2007
(UPDATED at 5:05 p.m. PDT; see below.)
(As part of my ongoing effort to strike the right balance between keeping up with venture-business news and writing more analysis, I’m inaugurating a daily briefing that will collect deal-related news items from the life sciences in one place. I’ll continue updating this post throughout the day as the news dictates. Comments on this or any other feature of this blog are always welcome; sound off below. For more on… Continue Reading
Vlip offers interactive video feature
Vlip is a new site takes video sharing conversations a step further.
It lets you record a video online with a webcam on your PC, and lets your friends and others respond with their own webcam clips. This is open-ended, so people can keep responding. The responses are threaded together. Moreover, if a registered member sees your video, they can click on the video to talk with you live, over a video call. Vlip’s strength… Continue Reading
Solazyme, raises more than $10M to develop algae for biofuels, cosmetics
Solazyme, a Menlo Park company that developing ways to use algae to produce biofuels and cosmetic treatments, says it has raised $8 million in a second round of funding, led by the Roda Group.
Additionally, it says it raised more than $2 million in venture debt.
News of the funding was reported in VentureWire (sub required), and was expected (see earlier report).
HP buys storage software co., Polyserve
Hewlett-Packard has agreed to acquire PolyServe Inc., a Beaverton, Ore. provider of storage software for application and file serving utilities.
According to the announcement:
The acquisition provides a strong entry point for HP into the high-growth enterprise network-attached storage (NAS) market and allows the company to extend NAS technology to blades, the fastest growing segment of the storage market. The acquisition will also allow HP to offer customers a powerful consolidation platform for databases that… Continue Reading