Westly Group closes $120M fund for cleantech
The Westly Group, the firm founded and managed by former California state controller and financial officer Steve Westly, just closed a $120 million fund to fuel revenue-generating cleantech companies. With 13 companies already in the Menlo Park, Calif. firm’s portfolio — including crown jewel investment Tesla Motors — it will be interesting to see which ideas it chooses to back.
Electric vehicles will continue to be an area of emphasis for the firm, which also plans… Continue Reading
Eka Systems raises $18.5M for smart metering
Eka Systems, a Germantown, Maryland-based utility metering company, has completed a $18.5 million fourth round of funding, led by Flybridge Capital Partners. Returning investors included RockPort Capital Partners, The Westly Group and Metropolitan Investments.
Eka’s scalable smart networking technology allows utilities to monitor and analyze their energy consumption on a near real-time basis. It also helps them cut down on costs by preventing leaks and detecting outages.
Its submetering systems can be installed in residential and commercial… Continue Reading
Roundup: Flickr founders leave Yahoo, ex-Citi CFO raising $3B for cleantech, Microsoft buys Navic, and more
Flickr founders join exodus from Yahoo — Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, the founders of photo-sharing app Flickr, a $35 million Yahoo acquisition, have added their names to the lengthening list of Yahoo defections. Kara Swisher speculates that a boardroom brawl is underway at the embattled search company. No word on where Fake and Butterfield will head next, although with any luck it’ll be another startup.
Another $3 $1 billion for cleantech — Todd Thompson, the ex-CFO of… Continue Reading
EdeniQ quietly raises $33 million for cellulosic ethanol
updated
EdeniQ, an Encino, Calif.-based cellulosic ethanol startup, has quietly wrapped up a $33 million round of funding as part of its spinoff from parent company Altra Biofuels. PE Hub reports that Advanced Equities Investments and Draper Fisher Jurvetson were the lead investors; other backers include Element Partners, Angeleno Group, The Westly Group, Omninet, DAG Ventures and Northgate Capital.
EdeniQ claims its processes for converting non-food biomass sources into cellulosic ethanol can be implemented for “a fraction… Continue Reading