All vehicles great and small

Whether you like your ride small and fast, or need to haul a ton of bricks to a job site, Venture Vehicles and Phoenix Motorcars have got you covered.

Dealmakers were on both ends of the spectrum this week, with NGEN Partners pouring $6 million into Venture Vehicles and Phoenix Motorcars reportedly getting close to a $15 million Series A round.

Venture Vehicles plans to make a sleek, three-wheeled, two-passenger, tilting, joyride machine that looks like a rocket on wheels. The VentureOne will come in hybrid and all electric models.

For the more staid, and those who need some cargo space, Phoenix is rolling out a fleet of electric SUVs and SUTs. The trucks can handle a payload of up to a thousand pounds, plus five passengers.

With both companies' vehicles topping out at around 100 miles per hour, could a drag race be in the works?

Deals we saw this week:

• Los Angeles-based Venture Vehicles raised $6 million in Series A funding from NGEN Partners. The company is developing a two-passenger, three-wheeled, tilting vehicle, in hybrid and full electric versions. The VentureOne will be a new version of the slim Carver One by The Netherlands' DVC Technologies. DVC, which licensed its technology to Venture Vehicles, has only produced about 30 of its vehicles so far (see the Cleantech Group's If you tilt it, they will come).
• Orion Energy Systems, a Plymouth, Wis.-based maker of energy-efficient lighting systems, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol OESX, with Thomas Weisel Partners serving as lead underwriter. Orion Energy raised VC funding from Expansion Capital Partners, Capvest Venture Fund and Custer Capital (see the Cleantech Group's Orion Energy Systems lights up IPO).
• Craton Equity Partners is reportedly nearing the halfway mark for fundraising on its inaugural fund. The Los Angeles-based firm is aiming for $250 million, and has secured over $40 million since holding an $82 million first close last year. The fund will focus on venture capital and private equity opportunities in cleantech.
• Phoenix Motorcars is close to an agreement on a $15 million Series A round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Virgin Fuels and AES, according to reports. Headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., the company makes electric SUVs and SUTs that it claims can get 130 miles out of a 10 minute charge. Phoenix has 500 pre-orders from fleet customers including PG&E and the Port of Los Angeles. AES is also a shareholder in AltairNano, which makes the battery-packs for Phoenix's vehicles.
• Asia Water Technology, a Singapore-based provider of water purification and wastewater treatment, raised $60 million in private mezzanine financing managed by CLSA Capital Partners. The deal is structured as a combination of senior secured bonds with detachable warrants and junior secured convertible bonds.
• Woodlands, Texas-based IEV Capital has formed a $1.83 billion energy fund, structured as a special purpose facility, that will target energy savings, renewable or alternative energy and oil drilling. The company said capital raised will be used for acquisitions and new development in ethanol, bio diesel, wind and solar energy, coal to liquid, and offshore and onshore oil drilling projects.

Browse previous deals here.

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