A lack of progress for battery technology is (arguably) the single biggest barrier for gadgets, electric vehicles, and the power grid. But there’s hundreds of researchers, entrepreneurs, universities and large companies working on battery breakthroughs. Here’s 25 you should know about: Read More »
Cleantech
Vineeth Vijayaraghavan is the founder and editor of a site focused on cleantech in India, Panchabuta, and here’s what he’s been watching, reading, and writing about this week: Read More »
Aquion Energy, which is developing a low-cost battery for the power grid made from sodium and water, has closed $20 million of a planned $30 million round and has brought on investor Foundation Capital in addition to existing investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Read More »
Silver Spring Networks filed for a potentially $150 million IPO this week, but the group that stands to gain in the short term is Silver Spring’s stead fast venture backer Foundation Capital. Foundation Capital owned 41.5 percent of shares before the offering. Read More »
Power conversion startup Transphorm has added yet another high-profile investor to its list of backers: George Soros’ investment fund Quantum Strategic Partners. On Thursday Transphorm announced that it has raised another $25 million from Quantum Strategic Partners, as well as existing investors. Read More »
GE has unveiled the second winners of its smart grid challenge, this time focused on home energy. GE says along with its VC partners, it’s investing another $63 million — of its $200 million fund — into 10 companies and giving $100,000 awards to 5 more. Read More »
When it comes to clean-energy investing 2.0, venture capitalists are beyond looking for the silver bullet — or the magic battery –- they spent the last decade hunting and hoping for. Today, VCs are more likely to invest their dollars in slightly less ambitious energy-efficiency projects. Read More »
The smart grid has one of the hottest acquisition markets in cleantech right now, and at our third annual Green:Net event on April 21 in San Francisco, we’re bringing together the pieces of the smart grid M&A ecosystem. Read More »
In the midst of a seeming malaise around cleantech venture investing emerges a bright spot of news: Private equity firm Silver Lake is launching a clean energy fund with investment from George Soros, and led by dream team Adam Grosser and Cathy Zoi. Read More »
Here comes the biggest cleantech startup launch since Bloom Energy: Transphorm has emerged from stealth at Google Ventures’s headquarters, touting an energy efficient power conversion module and an enviable $38 million in venture capital from Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Lux Capital. Read More »
It’s been a long year and a half since Cleantech Blog published its last Cleantech Blog Power 5 highlighting the top investors in cleantech. . . And the bottom five wild cards. Time for round two. Read More »
Last month, General Electric announced that it would be taking submissions from inventors and entrepreneurs seeking a piece of a $200 million smart grid investment fund. Now GE says it has received 950 submissions from around the world. Read More »
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