Performance monitoring pulls in more cash

San Jose, Calif.-based Fat Spaniel Technologies barked up the right tree and raised $18 million in Series B financing in a light week for cleantech funding.

The company, which provides monitoring and reporting services for renewable energy systems, said the round was led by Ignition Partners, with follow-on investments from Element Partners and Chrysalix Energy.

With this deal, John Ludwig, founding partner of Ignition Partners, will join Fat Spaniel's board.

PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund and Applied Ventures also participated in the round.

Filling out the week was news from the U.K.'s QuantaSol, which raised some extra cash from Low Carbon Accelerator, and from the Virgin Group, which is setting up the Virgin Climate Change Fund.

Not exclusively a cleantech fund, the group plans to put cash from the fund into companies that have lighter than average environmental footprints for their sector.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• Fat Spaniel Technologies, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of monitoring and reporting services for renewable energy systems, raised $18 million in Series B funding. Ignition Partners led the round, joined by Pacific Corporate Group, Applied Ventures and return investors Element Partners and Chrysalix Energy.
• Photovoltaic developer QuantaSol, a spin-out from Imperial College London, received £320,000 from Low Carbon Accelerator. The cash raises the investment company's stake in QuantaSol to 25.6 percent. In June, QuantaSol raised £1.35 million in seed funding from Low Carbon Accelerator, Imperial Innovations Group, Numis Securities, Netscientific, and Sheffield University Enterprise.
• The U.K.'s Virgin Group launched the Virgin Climate Change Fund, which it said will invest in environmentally focused companies. The group said the fund, to be run in partnership with GLG Partners and Trucost PLC, would invest in all industry sectors, but will only invest in companies with lighter than average environmental footprints for their sector.
• Ambient, a Boston-based smart grid technology company, closed a $2.5 million private placement from Vicis Capital. The deal brings Vicis' total investment in Ambient to $12.5 million.
• Israeli fuel cell developer CellEra reportedly raised $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures. The stealth-mode startup's founder's have experience in methanol fuel cell technology. CellEra is planning to bring affordable fuel cells to market.

Browse previous deals here.

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