Coming on the heels of a torrid $1 billion fundraising month in January, the runt month of February shows that VCs are not slowing down on greentech investments with more than $700 million in more than 30 deals. For the details of January, go here and here. The list of February VC investments follow:
VC Investments in Solar
MiaSolé raised $106 million for their CIGS thin film solar panels. The startup's investors include Kleiner Perkins, Firelake Capital and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
Solyndra, (Fremont, California), a manufacturer of cylindrical solar PV systems for industrial and commercial rooftops closed $75 million of a secured credit facility underwritten by existing investors. Solyndra had annual revenues exceeding $140 million in 2010 and has shipped almost 100 megawatts of panels for more than 1,000 installations in 20 countries, according to the CEO.
BrightSource Energy (Oakland, California) raised $89.5 million of a $100 million round for their large-scale concentrating solar power technology and deployments.
Calisolar (Sunnyvale, California) with a low-cost process for purifying silicon for use in solar cells, won an additional $8 million. Calisolar raised $38 million in 2010 from Good Energies, Globespan Capital, Ventures West, Yaletown Venture Partners, et al.
NovoPolymers (Belgium), a PV encapsulant developer, won $5.8 million in funding from Gimv and Capricorn Cleantech Investment.
C3Nano (Hayward, California) raised a $3.5 million Round A from GSR Ventures for a carbon nanotube-based transparent electrode with applications in photovoltaics and displays -- an alternative to ITO.
Solar Power Partners, (Mill Valley, California) , a solar power producer that manages solar installations and sells power to utilities and commercial firms, raised $3 million in funding. SPP raised a $100 million round in 2008 led by Globespan Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank and a $32 million round in 2009.
VC Investments in Smart Grid
Cuculus (Germany), a developer of smart metering and home control products, received a strategic financing round from T Venture.
SmartSynch, using cellular networks for utilities’ smart grid projects, raised $25.7 million of a planned $33.4 million round. The firm has raised more than $80 million in total.
Entelios (Munich) raised an undisclosed Round A from Yellow & Blue Investment Management and High-Tech Gründerfonds for demand response for commercial and industrial customers.
Control4, a home automation firm, closed $15 million of a $25 million round from Frazier Technology Ventures, vSpring Capital, and Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, bringing the firm's current VC total to $65 million.
VC Investments in Lighting
Bridgelux (Livermore, California), a builder of LED lighting chips, raised $20.7 million from VantagePoint Venture Partners, Chrysalix Energy, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Harris & Harris, and VentureTech Alliance.
Nuventix (Austin, Texas) a developer of cooling devices for electronics, raised a $4.9 million Round C from Braemar Energy Ventures, Uniquest, and Advanced Technology Ventures.
VC Investments in Smart Buildings and Smart building Materials
Soladigm (Milpitas, CA), a developer of energy-efficient dynamic glass for buildings raised a $10 million Round C from The Westly Group, Navitas Capital, DBL Investors, Nano Dimension, GE Energy Financial Services, Khosla Ventures, and Sigma Partners.
Quanta Technologies (Malvern, PA) won $400,000 from Ben Franklin Technology Partners for insulating glass.
VC Investments in Energy Efficiency
Phononic Devices (Raleigh, NC), a maker of heat-to-energy conversion products, won a $10 million Round B from Venrock and Oak Investment Partners.
CLEAResult (Austin, Texas) received an investment from General Catalyst for designing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for utilities.
Earth Aid (Washington, D.C.), a provider of an online energy tracking system and social network raised a $4 million Round A from Point Judith Capital.
Recyclebank (New York, NY), a provider of an environmental social platform that rewards green behavior, closed a $14 million Round C from Physic Ventures, Generation Investment Management, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, Paul Capital Investments, RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners, and The Westly Group.
OnChip Power (Cambridge, MA), a developer of efficient transformer technology for electronic devices closed a $1.8 million Round A led by Venrock.
Transphorm (Goleta, California) raised $38 million from Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Lux Capital to build an energy efficient GaN power conversion module.
VC Investments in Recycling
MBA Polymers (Richmond, California) a plastic recycler, raised $15 million from Ambienta to recover high-value plastics from complex waste streams.
EcoATM raised $14.4 million from Coinstar, Claremont Creek Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank for kiosks to automate return and recycling of electronics and mobile phones.
VC Investments in Biofuels
Ze-Gen (Boston, MA) with technology for converting solid waste into gas for power plants raised $25.6 million.
VC Investments in Automotive
Fisker Automotive (Irvine, California), an electric vehicle maker, raised $150 million at a $600 million pre-money valuation (according to VentureWire), from New Enterprise Associates and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The firm previously raised $350 million in VC, as well as a $528 million loan from the DOE.
VC Investments in Wind
Accio Energy (Ann Arbor, Michigan) developing what it calls “aerovoltaic” wind technology, creating electricity by using wind molecules to push positively charged ions against the force of an electrostatic field, raised an undisclosed amount from Resonant Venture Partners.
Boulder Wind Power raised $8 million in a Round A from New Enterprise Associates, et al. The firm is a developer of a direct drive wind turbine generator for utility-scale electricity generation.
VC Investments in Water
Membrane Instruments and Technology (Singapore), developing technology for monitoring and controlling water quality in filtration-based water treatment plants, raised funding from Frankfurt-based Nanostart.
Ecochlor (Acton, MA), a provider of chlorine dioxide systems for destroying invasive species and pathogens from ballast water raised $1.7 million in equity funding from Hub Angels Investment Group.
VC Investments in New Nuclear Power
Hyperion Power Generation raised $2.8 million from Altira Energy, et al. for small scale nuclear power units.
Tokamak Solutions (U.K.), developing a neutron source, raised $300K from the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments, et al.
Misc. Greentech VC Investments
EnLink Geoenergy (Rancho Dominguez, California) raised $3 million from Craton Equity Partners for geothermal heat pump systems.
WeatherBill received a $42 million round from Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, NEA et al. for a product called Total Weather Insurance that uses probability to insure farmers against the unexpected.