It was the second body blow to Seattle, Wash.'s Imperium Renewables today, as it pulled its planned $345 million initial public offering just two weeks after a management shakeup.

The biodiesel producer cited unfavorable market conditions for putting a hold on the share sale, but never said why it replaced chairman and CEO Martin Tobias on the Friday before Christmas.

No word on whether Santa doled out some coal for Imperium's board over the holidays.

But just to show that things aren't all bad for biofuels, Cambridge, Mass.-based ethanol startup Ethos reportedly raised some cash from from Khosla Ventures and GreatPoint Ventures.

The company plans to avoid the rising cost of corn and go low-cost with sugarcane-based ethanol projects in Central America, Latin American and the Caribbean.

Deals we saw over the past two weeks:

• Seattle, Wash.-based Imperium Renewables put its planned initial public offering on hold, citing unfavorable market conditions, less than two weeks after the biodiesel producer replaced its chairman and CEO in a pre-holiday shakeup. The company announced that it would replace Martin Tobias on the Friday before Christmas, fueling speculation that it would delay its IPO, expected to raise up to $345 million. Backers include Nth Power and Technology Partners (see Imperium Renewables puts IPO on hold).
• Oulu, Finland, optoelectronics materials maker Braggone said it received "multi-million dollar funding" from the National Technology Agency of Finland to commercialize its nano-engineered polymer technology. The company said the material would be used in semiconductors, solar panels and flat panel displays. Braggone did not disclose the amount of funding.
• Westborough, Mass.-based Boston-Power, a maker of next generation lithium ion batteries, raised $45 million in Series C funding.The round was led by Oak Investment Partners and included existing investors Venrock Associates, Granite Global Ventures and Gabriel Venture Partners. Boston-Power said it plans to use the new capital to scale business development, marketing, research and development, and manufacturing operations for its Sonata laptop battery.
• Cambridge, Mass.-based ethanol startup Ethos reportedly raised an undisclosed amount of financing from Khosla Ventures and GreatPoint Ventures. The company plans to develop low-cost sugarcane-based ethanol projects in Central America, Latin American and the Caribbean.
• Pyron Solar, a San Diego developer of utility-scale concentrating solar technology, closed a Series A round of financing from New Energies Invest. The company did not disclose the amount of the funding. Pyron plans to use the capital to improve product reliability, hire new employees, and move from demonstration to production.
• New York startup Project Better Place pulled in another $30 million for its electric car charging network. The investment comes from Israel's Ofer Shipping, owned by the Ofer family. The Ofer family also controls Israel Corp., which acquired a 33 percent stake in Project Better Place in October after agreeing to invest $100 million. The startup, headed by Shai Agassi, raised a total of $200 million in that first round of funding.
• Lysaker, Norway-based paper maker Norske Skog said it would team up with Norwegian forest owners to establish a biofuels from wood venture. The new venture will be established with equity of 30 million kroner. The group plans to build a 100 million kroner to 200 million kroner pilot plant in Honefoss, Norway, with an expected capacity of 65,000 to 100,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year.
• Schwandorf, Germany's Schmack Biogas raised 130 million euros from private equity investor HgCapital. Schmack plans to use the capital to build 12 to 15 biogas plants with a combined capacity of approximately 30 megawatts. The company said the bulk of the plant construction volume is expected to be ordered in 2008 and 2009.
• The Netherlands' Emergya Wind Technologies, a wind turbine manufacturer, raised 20 million euros from AtlasInvest, which led the round, and Ludgate Environmental Fund. The funds will be used to repay existing loans and for working capital.
• Mansfield, U.K.-based Monsal, which makes anaerobic digestion technology for waste recycling, wastewater treatment and the production of biogas, raised £3 million in funding. The cash comes from Matrix Private Equity Partners as part of a management buyout led by Monsal managing director Aidan Cumiskey. Matrix said it is taking a significant minority stake with the investment.

Browse previous deals here.

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