Venture capital funding of greentech firms totaled $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2011 -- an extremely strong showing, albeit with a leaning towards later-stage deals. VC investment in green firms in the most recent quarter was similarly strong. We'll get you a list of every deal tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a quick snapshot of the solar deals in the most recent quarter.
The biggest solar deal this quarter was:
- Suniva with their $115M round D, closed after suspending their request for a DOE loan guarantee.
I have learned not to interpret strong VC numbers as a proxy for a healthy greentech industry or the sectors therein. If that were the case, we would all be driving cars fueled by corn ethanol and every electricity consumer would be programming a home energy monitoring appliance. Here's the list:
VC Funding in Solar Q2 2011
Suniva (Atlanta, Georgia), a manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells, raised $94 million of a $115 million round D from NEA, Warburg Pincus, et al.
Enecsys (Cambridge, U.K.), a provider of solar micro-inverter systems, raised a $41 million Round B from Climate Change Capital Private Equity, Wellington Partners, NES Partners and Good Energies.
Royal Tech Solar (China), a manufacturer of concentration and tracking devices for solar PV and thermal power systems, raised $35.7 million from Tripod Capital (per CTG).
Agile Energy (San Bruno, California), a developer of utility-scale renewable power generating projects, raised $24 million in new VC funding from return backer Good Energies. (www.agileenergy.com)
SolarReserve (Santa Monica, California), a developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, raised a $20M round C from undisclosed investors. The new round brings SolarReserve's total VC raised to over $160 million from Argonaut Private Equity, Citi, Credit Suisse, Good Energies, Nimes Capital, PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, and U.S. Renewables Group.
SolarBridge (Austin, Texas), a micro-inverter manufacturer, raised $19 million from Rho Ventures, Battery Ventures, et al.
Tigo Energy (Los Gatos, California), a provider of solar panel electronics, raised $10 million from Generation Investment Management, Matrix Partners, OVP Venture Partners, ICV Partners, IAC, and Clal Energy. The firm previously raised $27 million from Inventec Appliances, Matrix Partners, OVP Venture Partners, and ICV.
GreenVolts (Fremont, California), a CPV systems supplier, won $17 million from Oak Investment Partners, et al. to close its $39 million round.
Morgan Solar (Toronto, Canada) raised 16.5 million for CPV systems from Iberdrola’s venture arm, Nypro, and Phillip Frost’s The Frost Group. Turnstone Capital, which led Morgan Solar’s first VC round, didn’t participate in this round. The deal brings the firm's VC total to $26.3 million, along with $10.3 million in U.S. and Canadian government funding, and a $3.3 million loan guarantee from the California Energy Commission.
Solar brokerage pvXchange won backing from VC firm WHEB Partners.
Semprius (Durham, North Carolina), a CPV systems and chip developer, raised $20 million in a Round C from Siemens Venture Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Applied Ventures, Illinois VENTURES, Intersouth Partners, In-Q-Tel and GVC Investment.
Enphase Energy (Petaluma, California), a microinverter startup that filed for a $100 million IPO in June, raised $14 million in new VC funding. The firm looks to raise an additional $37.5M in equity for a round of $51.5 million, according to an SEC filing.
MC10 (Cambridge, Mass.) raised a $12.5 million Round B from Braemer Energy Ventures for flexible and “conformal” photovoltaics or thermo-electric systems.
SoloPower (San Jose, California) raised $15 million of a proposed $40 million round from Greentech Capital Advisors and Thomas Weisel Partners as part of its fifth round of equity funding. The company has raised more than $300 million in equity as well as a $197 million loan guarantee from the U.S. DOE for flexible CIGS-based solar panels.
Geostellar (Herndon, Virginia), a developer of technology to determine the best places for solar (or wind, hydro and biofuel plants) won $2 million from Flash Forward Ventures.
Solar Mosaic received a $150,000 investment for its community solar initiative.
Astrum Solar (Annapolis Junction, Maryland) won an undisclosed equity investment from Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) for the East Coast U.S. residential solar provider.
GE invested in eSolar for hybrid solar-conventional power plants.
Not included in our VC totals but of notable significance:
Comtec Solar (Shanghai, China), a maker of solar wafer technologies, received $150 million in funding from TPG Capital.