R. James Woolsey has come in from the cold and stepped into the wide world of venture capital.

The former head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has been named a venture partner on the cleantech investment team at Silicon Valley's VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Woolsey has also worked for McLean, Va.-based defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton since 2002, where he currently serves as a senior executive adviser.

If there's a cleantech railgun in the works, Woolsey should keep it under his hat, in case there are moles at VantagePoint.

Back in 1994, under Woolsey's watch, infamous CIA case officer Aldrich Ames was charged with spying for the Soviet Union.

VantagePoint said Woolsey, who has served as a senior adviser to the investment firm since 2006, has been a long time advocate for clean energy with particular interest in distributed generation, electric transport and biofuels.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• Israel's H2ID group completed an agreement to receive $450 million in financing for a desalination plant in Israel from a consortium of foreign banks. The European Investment Bank will provide 50 percent of the financing, with Calyon, the investment banking arm of France's Credit Agricole, and Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo splitting the rest. H2ID plans to build the desalination facility in Hadera, providing 100 million cubic meters of drinking water per year.
• Capricorn Venture Partners closed its Capricorn Cleantech Fund at €100 million. Three existing investors, PMV, Ethias and a Dutch pension fund increased their participation in the fund. In addition, the Solvay Group and over 15 private investors joined as new shareholders in the fund.
• Craton Equity Partners, a Los Angeles-based firm focused on venture capital and private equity opportunities in the cleantech sector, has closed its debut fund with $191.5 million in capital commitments. Craton held an $82 million first close last December and had been targeting $250 million.
• Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Ener1 (AMEX: HEV) raised $29.7 million of equity capital through an excercise of warrants. The energy storage solutions company is developing and commercializing lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. Ener1 is also working on fuel cell products through its EnerFuel subsidiary and nanotechnology-based materials through its NanoEner unit.
• Livermore, Calif.-based Power Air (OTC: PWAC) completed a private placement of its common stock, raising $1.5 million from H-Plus Eco, a Korean environmental company. Power Air is developing Zinc Air Fuel Cell-based products for the mobile electronics, portable and stationary power generation, light mobility and transportation markets.
• SmartSynch, a Jackson, Miss.-based provider of public wireless smart metering technology, raised $20 million in a Series E funding. Credit Suisse led the round, joined by Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance. Return investors included Battelle Ventures, Beacon Group, Endeavor Capital Management, GulfSouth Capital, Innovation Valley Partners, Kinetic Ventures, OPG Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital.
• Ecore International, a Lancaster, Penn.-based maker of environmentally-sustainable products, raised $29 million in funding from Element Partners. Ecore makes flooring, insulation and surfacing products from cork, rubber and recycled rubber.
• The Netherlands-based renewable energy group Ecocern pulled in €300 million from Dutch bank Rabobank, the U.K.'s Delta Lloyd, and Dutch investment firm SHV. Econcern is helping to build a an offshore wind park in the North Sea. The company said its shareholders are planning a stock exchange listing for the firm "in the medium term."
• R. James Woolsey has joined the cleantech team of VantagePoint Venture Partners as a venture partner. Woolsey is a former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and has served as a senior adviser to VantagePoint since 2006.
• CrystalIQ Group, a Dutch provider of sapphire substrates for the production of white LEDs, has raised an undisclosed amount of venture capital from Sustainable Energy Technology Fund, EPT-Benno Wiersma and E2 Cleantech.
• Cambridge Semiconductor, a U.K.-based fabless semiconductor company focused on reducing energy consumption of consumer electronics, raised $8 million in additional Series C funding from BankInvest Group. The chipmaker previously held a $26 million first close, from 3i, Scottish Equity Partners and Carbon Trust Investments.
• DeltaPoint Capital Management led an acquisition of Lowville, N.Y.-based Climax Manufacturing, a manufacturer of recycled paperboard and folding cartons. Financial terms were not disclosed. Co-investors included Hamilton Lane, investing funds from the New York State Common Retirement Fund, with additional financing provided by New Spring Capital.
• EoPlex Technologies, a Redwood City, Calif.-based advanced materials company that makes miniature devices to generate, harvest and manage energy, raised $4 million in a Series C-2 funding. The total round now stands at $12 million. ATA Ventures led the expansion, joined by return backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Labrador Ventures and Draper Richards (see Printing up cleantech).
• San Francisco's Principle Power closed a $2.3 million seed funding round. The company, which plans to build, own and operate green energy assets in offshore wind, solar and hydro, said the round included eight Keiretsu Forum investors, and international investors from Spain, Mexico and Portugal.

Browse previous deals here.

Got scoops? Contact us.