Christmas came early for a number of greentech firms this year as investors granted generous financial gifts before the holidays.
Here are some of the deals that greentech entrepreneurs unwrapped last week:
Private:
- It appears electric sports car developer Tesla Motors is getting some new funds to bring the company's long-awaited roadster to market. On Friday, Tesla Chairman Elon Musk told Earth2Tech the company is raising $40 million in an internal round from himself and other current investors. The financing is expected to close next month, according to the blog.
- Santa Clara, Calif.-based Element Lab, which uses light-emitting diodes for entertainment, architecture and signs, closed a $12.75 million venture-capital round for LED technology. Investors in the company's second round included Expansion Capital, Sierra Ventures and Gold Hill.
- In another lighting deal, CeeLight raised $4 million from The Musser Group for what it calls light-emitting capacitors, or LECs. The capacitors are a type of electroluminescent panel -- the lights used in cell phones, watches and control panels -- the company says gives off brighter light, uses far less energy than fluorescent lights and can expand lighting into new markets.
- Purfresh, formerly named Novazone, poured $25 million into its coffers to use ozone to sanitize food and purify water. Investors included Chilton Investment Co., Foundation Capital, Grauer Capital and Chrysalix Energy.
- Ithaca, N.Y.-based Novomer snagged an undisclosed amount of funding from Netherlands-based DSM for its catalyst technology to turn pollution into biodegradable plastics and other chemicals. In November, Novomer grabbed $6.6 million in its first round of venture-capital funding from Physic Ventures and Flagship Ventures.
- Second Wind scored $4 million for its electronics and software that helps wind farms assess their most important and unpredictable asset --wind. Good Energies led the company's second round of financing.
- Validus DC Systems charged up with $10 million for technology to make data centers more efficient with direct current. Oak Hill Venture Partners led the company's first round of funding.
- Private investment firm Najafi Companies has launched a new company, Energy Capital Investments, and armed it with $100 million to invest in green-energy projects.
Public:
- Energy-efficient lighting solution maker Orion Energy Systems (NSDQ: OESX) shined in its Nasdaq debut. The company closed at $21.41 per share, 65 percent higher than its $13 per share initial-public-offering price.
- Montreal-based 5N Plus, which makes purified cadmium-telluride for solar cells, also went public this week. The company debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday at C$3.00 and saw its shares jump 87 percent to C$5.60 per share.
- London's Solar Integrated Technologies on Thursday raised £13.2 million ($26.4 million), after cash expenses, by issuing 16.5 million new shares. The company makes thin-film cells that it laminates onto heavy-duty fabrics and installs on roofs for customers such as Coca Cola Enterprises and Frito-Lay.
- Chinese biodiesel producer Gushan Environmental Energy this week set its offering price at $9.60 per share, well below the below the expected range of $11.50 to $13.50 per share (see Biofuel Forecast Buoys a Bit).
- Bulletin-board-traded Solar Power grabbed $10.5 million in a private placement. The Roseville, Calif.- based company manufacturers solar panels, and designs and installs solar-power systems.