Cleantech Funding Roundup: 5 Startups Bring In Over $50 Million
Lotsa little funding announcements popped up on my radar today, kicking the week off with a feeling that the cleantech investing train won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Plus, it’s helping us ignore that whole recession thing. Following is more than $50 million in green-tinged deal flow from five startups:
Codon Devices: The synthetic biology company based out of Cambridge, Mass., said it has raised $11 million in an extension of its second round of funding from existing investors Alloy Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Tactics II Ventures. While Codon’s biotech has a variety of applications in the drug industry, the startup is also working on commercializing engineered proteins for the next generation of biofuels. — via PEHub.com
Clean Mobile: Another startup that’s entered the choppy waters of fuel cell tech, Germany’s Clean Mobile, which builds fuel cell-powered drives for small vehicles like scooters, has raised €3.3 million from Earlybird Ventures and High Tech Gründer Fonds. This funding follows funding updates from fuel cell companies Jadoo, and Oorja. — via AlarmClock.
ReliOn: Fuel cell funding is all the rage, apparently. ReliOn, a Spokane, Wash.-based maker of fuel cells as backup power for industries like telecom and utilities said it has raised $17 million from existing investors, including Oak Investment Partners, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Wall Street Technology Partners and Chrysalix Energy. — Seattle PI and VentureBeat.
Tendril Networks: A startup making energy management software and hardware for residential homes got some cash today — specifically $12 million led by RRE Ventures. Tendril uses the wireless protocol Zigbee (hey, in a former life I was a wireless nerd for GigaOM!) to connect energy consumers with utilities. — release.
GridPoint: And finally late last week, oft-mentioned “smart grid” company GridPoint said it has raised another $15 million, led by David Gelbaum’s Quercus Trust. That brings the firms total funding to over $100 million. They also added James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, to its advisory board. Weird. — RedHerring.
A clarification - Clean Mobile is not a fuel cell manufacturer but they design & build hybrid fuel cell drives for small vehicles.
Disclosure: I am with Earlybird, an investor in Clean Mobile.
Thanks for the clarification. I just updated it.
[...] in the smart grid space, eMeter recently took in funding, also from Foundation Capital. GridPoint raised more money as well, bringing its total venture funding to over $100 million. Cleantech VCs that we’ve spoken [...]
[...] GridPoint - $15 million - Smart Grids: This most recent round brings this Arlington, Va,-based startup’s funding to over $100 million. GridPoint is well-positioned amid a number of other smart grid startups that don’t have nearly as much capital. [...]