LED and solar power companies pick up some cash, along with deals for waste treatment, lithium ion batteries and wind power.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ausra, Tel Aviv's Pythagoras Solar and Cool Earth Solar in Livermore, Calif., all pulled in financing this week for team sun power, with Boulder, Colo.-based Albeo Technologies grabbing some cash for artificial lighting with its LED technology.
Ausra reportedly secured $30 million in venture debt and is negotiating for an add-on round of $15 million. The solar thermal developer is also said to be looking at going public by 2010.
Pythagoras picked up $10 million, while Cool Earth and its inflatable mirrors raised $21 million.
On the non-solar side, Albeo, which designs, manufactures, and markets light emitting diode-based systems for commercial and industrial institutions, picked up $1.5 million.
Rounding out the deals were electric car maker Tesla Motors, wind power firm Novera Energy, waste treatment company New Earth Solutions, battery maker Lion Cells, and others.
Deals we saw over the past week:
- Ausra, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer of equipment for solar-thermal power plants, reportedly secured $30 million in venture debt and is negotiating for an add-on round of $15 million from original investors Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The company is also said to be looking at an initial public offering by 2010.
- Boulder, Colo., solid-state lighting startup Albeo Technologies raised $1.5 million from Green Spark Ventures. Albeo designs, manufactures, and markets light emitting diode-based systems for commercial and industrial institutions.
- Pythagoras Solar, a Tel Aviv-based photovoltaic startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Israel Cleantech Ventures led the round, joined by Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners.
- San Carlos, Calif.-based electric car maker Tesla Motors raised $40 million in bridge financing. Valor Equity Partners and Tesla chairman Elon Musk co-led the round. Tesla said recently that it plans to raise another $250 million, through a combination of a private placement and an initial public offering in the U.S. or Europe.
- Cool Earth Solar, a Livermore, Calif.-based developer of utility-scale concentrated solar power plants, closed $21 million in Series A financing from undisclosed investors. The company said additional closings in the round could occur over the next two months. Cool Earth uses inflated mirror concentrators in its systems which gather sunlight and focus it onto photovoltaic cells.
- 3i Group made a 90-pence per share offer for U.K. wind farm developer Novera Energy, valuing Novera at £112 million. 3i Group has acquired a 10 percent stake in Novera since revealing its interest in the wind company.
- New Earth Solutions, a Dorset, England-based operator of waste facilities, raised £4 million from Impax Asset Management. New Earth, which treats biodegradable wastes, said its composting systems can capture other recyclables, such as plastics, glass, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
- Lion Cells, a Woodside, Calif.-based developer of lithium ion battery technologies, raised $12.1 million in Series B funding. Return investors include Battery Ventures and Nth Power. The company raised a $3.6 million Series A round in July 2006.
- Portland Ore.-based Apex Construction Systems, a developer of environmentally-friendly building blocks for home construction, called down approximately $16 million of a $22.3 million Series B round. Investors include DFJ Element, Nth Power and Emerald Technology Ventures.
- Hasso Plattner, chairman and joint founder of SAP, is setting up a $45 million venture capital fund to invest in local technology startups in South Africa. Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa is expected to invest in cleantech and renewable energy.
Browse previous deals here.
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