U.S. greentech advocates are pushing to add $21.8 billion in renewable incentives to the economic stimulus bill slated for the Senate this week, while Japan is pitching a $10 billion package to help developing countries tackle climate change at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, venture-capital investments and public offering are still going strong. Here are some of the deals that caught our attention this week:
PRIVATE:
- Cambridge, Mass.-based GreatPoint Energy said Friday it raised an undisclosed amount of money from Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), the world’s largest coal company. GreatPoint, which is developing a technology to turn coal into natural gas, said it will use the cash to develop its technology at commercial scale (see Peabody Energy Takes a Step Toward Green and this Earth2Tech post).
- Marquiss Wind Power said Friday it raised $1.3 million in a first round of funding from Velocity Venture Capital and Strategis Early Ventures. The Folson, Calif.-based company is making rooftop wind turbines (see VentureBeat post).
- Israel Cleantech Ventures said it purchased 11 percent of Herzliya, Israel-based wastewater-treatment company AqWise - Wise Water Technologies in a deal that valued the company at $10 million. That amounts to a $1.1 million investment.
- Few details are available, but stealthy Achates Power claims it’s developing a fuel-efficient clean-diesel engine. The San Diego, Calif.-based company has received an undisclosed amount of funding, according to VentureWire. Achates backers include Sequoia Capital, Rockport Capital Partners, Madrone Capital Partners and InterWest Partners.
- Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide said it has acquired a quarter of Automotive Solar Systems, also called Asola, a solar-energy company in Erfurt, Germany. The amount was undisclosed. The two companies developed the technology behind Fisker Automotive’s Karma, a plug-in hybrid sports car with a solar panel that was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show (see Automakers Vie for Green Cred). The car is expected to roll out in the fourth quarter of 2009.
- Green Plug wants to banish the unruly powerstrip, where tech tools like phone chargers suck up electricity even though the phone is no longer there. And on Monday, the company said it bagged an undisclosed amount of first-round funding to help market its universal power adopter hub that communicates with electronic gizmos, allotting the proper amount of power to each. Peninsula Equity Partners was the sole investor for the round.
PUBLIC:
- Las Vegas-based Power Efficiency Corp. said Friday it has raised $7 million in a private placement of its shares. The bulletin-board-traded company is developing a technology that it claims can improve the efficiency of certain electric motors -- such as those used in escalators, crushers, and saws, as well as in residential air conditioning, pool pumps and clothes dryers -- by 15 to 35 percent. Power Efficiency already announced it had raised $5.7 million in November. The new financing adds $1.3 million to the previously announced amount.
- Hong Kong-based thin-film solar company Qiangsheng Photovoltaic Technology said Tuesday is planning a $250 million IPO on the Nasdaq, according to Reuters (see Poor Market Conditions? Who Cares?).
- Qidong, China-based Solarfun Power Holdings (NSDQ: SOLF) said Thursday it priced $150 million worth of convertible senior notes in a private offering. Institutional investors have the option to increase the financing by $22.5 million. The net proceeds from the notes are expected to cover wafer and silicon prepayments, loan repayments and equipment.
-- Reporter Rachel Barron contributed to this story.
CORRECTION: The amount that Israel Cleantech Ventures invested in AqWise - Wise Water Technologies has been corrected in this story. The venture-capital firm said the information in the original source, Globes, was incorrect (see Globes story here).