Marrone Organic Innovations, which is developing green pesticides and weed killers, has raised $10 million in a financing round led by Stuart Mill Venture Partners.
CEO Pamela Marrone in May told Greentech Media that the company was nearly done raising $7 million in the Series B round (see Killing to Be Green).
In the announcement earlier this month, Davis, Calif.-based Marrone said it expects a second closing of $1 million by the end of August.
Contrarian Group co-invested in the round with Stuart Mill, and investors in Marrone's first round – including One Earth Capital, Saffron Hill Ventures, Clean Pacific Ventures, Wavepoint Ventures and angel investors – also participated in this second round.
Founded in 2006, Marrone is developing environmentally friendly products to deal with weeds, plant disease and pest management. The company in February launched its first product, GreenMatch EX, an herbicide based on lemongrass oil that helps control weeds on certified organic cropland.
Meanwhile, VentureWire reported Thursday that Amyris Biotechnologies has raised an additional $21 million on top of a previously announced $70 million for its second round of funding (see VentureBeat).
The company is developing new microorganisms to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from plants.
But solar has continued to rake in the most money in the last few weeks, according to Greentech Media's Venture Power Report for August, released Thursday.
Spanish solar-power-project developer Fotowatio led the pack with a $350 million round from GE Energy Financial Services and Grupo Corporative Landon (see Funding Roundup: More IPOs for Wind, Solar).
Sulfurcell, ET Solar Group, Ausra, Cyrium, Voltaix and Wakonda Technologies, as well as U.K.-based G24 Innovations and Better Energy Systems, raised venture capital in the last two to three weeks, according to the report.
Optisolar is also rumored to have raised $132 million in the second quarter, according to Greentech Media Senior Analyst Eric Wesoff. MoneyTree also reported the round last month (see Earth2Tech posts here and here). Greentech Media in April reported that the thin-film solar company had raised $71.7 million (see Can OptiSolar Make Thin-Film Dreams Real?).
The company has signed an agreement to deliver 550 megawatts of thin-film solar power to the Pacific Gas a nd Electric Co., according to an announcement (see PG&E to Buy 800MW From OptiSolar, SunPower).
More solar fund raisings are on the horizon. According to the report, Solar Power Partners plans to raise $100 million, CaliSolar is close to raising $50 million, Green Volts is raising a "significant" round of less than $100 million, and Miasolé is expected to soon close a long-rumored round of more than $200 million.
To read about other recent fundings, check out Funding Roundup: DIY Solar, Electric Cars and Water Disinfectant, Funding Roundup: More IPOs for Wind, Solar and Funding Roundup: VCs Bet on Electric Rides.