VCs at firms like Sequoia Capital or Andreessen Horowitz might scoff at the call for attention to a positive fund value, but in the cleantech ecosystem a significant positive growth in value is pretty rare. In fact, I’ve heard discussions of cleantech portfolios being waaay, way (way) down in valuation for many VCs’ funds.

Chrysalix put money into 18 follow-on rounds and one new investment in 2012, and the company’s overall portfolio includes startups like nuclear company General Fusion, micro fuel cell maker Angstrom Power, electric scooter company Brammo, solar steam generator maker GlassPoint, and GaN Systems, which makes power conversion chips. Chrysalix’s new investment in 2012 was Axine Water Technologies, which makes clean water technology.

Now that some of the generalist VCs are exiting making cleantech investments, investors that are sticking to their green guns are coming out of the woodwork to throw down their gauntlets. Vinod Khosla says his cleantech portfolio is doing just fine, thank you very much, and he will continue to invest in the space. Others like DBL Investors, which backed both Tesla and SolarCity — two of the most successful cleantech IPOs — clearly have done well (see my profile The Most Successful and Positive Greentech VC You Haven’t Heard of).

Still others that are investing in CleanWeb, or clean IT, continue to be excited about investing in companies that are using IT to manage resources, like energy, food and water. As Mitch Lowe of Greenstart, a digital green accelerator, said on a panel I moderated last month: “Cleantech is dead, like the Internet was dead in 2000.”

Images of Bridgelux and Brammo technologies. Courtesy of Bridgelux and GigaOM.

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China is already the world’s largest auto market, so it’s not that surprising that it would lead on electric vehicle technology development, too. As the Financial Times once put it: “The Middle Kingdom is increasingly claiming its place as the centre of gravity of the automotive world.”. . . “This is a 30m market by 2020 – it will be the dominant market in the world.”

Protean’s technology is an electric motor that is housed within a vehicle’s wheel and can be used for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars. Protean says the motor system reduces complexity, adds torque and increases power.

Chinese investors, and city governments, have been very aggressive when it comes to offering auto technology and battery companies incentives, and easy access to capital, if they manufacture in China. Particularly startups that haven’t been able to raise funds from investors or the government in the U.S., are eager to make these deals. Here’s examples of some of these:

• Battery maker Boston Power lined up $125 million in funding from Chinese investors and the government to shift a big part of its business to China and thin its operation in the U.S. by about 35 percent. Boston Power makes lithium ion batteries that it plans to sell for the electric vehicle market.
• Electric car company, Coda Automotive, created a joint venture with Chinese battery maker, Lishen, in 2010 and is backed by Chinese investors. Coda also recently announced a deal with auto maker Great Wall Motors Company to co-develop a low cost electric car to sell in the U.S., China and Europe.
• San Diego-based battery company PowerGenix spent the past year hunting for a partner in China and created a joint venture with China City Construction Corp. to produce its batteries for the so-called microhybrid vehicles. PowerGenix already had a research facility with a small production line in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
• Smith Electric Vehicles early this year announced a $25 million equity investment from the Wanxiang Group, and a letter of intent for a $75 million investment in a JV between Smith and Wanxiang to make electric school buses and commercial vehicles.
• Electric motorcycle maker Brammo says it’s scored a deal to supply the Hong Kong government and police force with its electric motorcycles. Brammo says the Hong Kong government will replace its existing gas-powered motorcycle fleet with Brammo’s Enertia.

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1). GreatPoint Energy and China Wanxiang Holdings: At one point GreatPoint Energy, a company that converts coal into cleaner-burning natural gas, had an investor list that was led by the who’s who of Silicon Valley’s greentech ambitions, including Kleiner Perkins, Advanced Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Khosla Ventures. But according to DowJones Venture Wire last week, GreatPoint Energy has now developed a $1.25 billion partnership with industrial parts supplier China Wanxiang Holdings, including a $420 million Series D equity investment.

The article calls the deal “the largest ever by a Chinese corporation into a venture-capital-funded U.S. company.” GreatPoint Energy will use the money partly to build a large-scale plant in China to convert coal into natural gas using GreatPoint’s process called hydromethanation.

2). Smith Electric Vehicles and Wanxiang Group: GreatPoint Energy isn’t the only one that’s teamed up with Wanxiang. I reported last week that electric car company Smith Electric Vehicles is in the process of raising $40 million from private investors. And days after that article, Smith announced that Wanxiang Group has signed a letter of intent for a $25 million equity investment into Smith and an up to a $75 million investment in a JV between Smith and Wanxiang to make electric school buses and commercial vehicles.

Smith filed for an IPO in November 2011. The company sells electric trucks and vans for companies’ fleet operations and counts customers like Coca-Cola, Fed-Ex, Staples, and Sainsburys, as well as the military.

3). Bridgelux and Kaistar: California-based LED lighting startup Bridgelux announced last week that it’s getting $25 million from Kaistar, a joint venture between two public Chinese companies, Epistar and Kaifa. Bridgelux plans to use the funds for research, development and manufacturing of LED chips and packaging for light fixtures.

Bridgelux had already raised a massive $220 million in private funding and in previous years Bridgelux was on the short list for an IPO.

4). LanzaTech and Chinese steel and coal companies: LanzaTech uses microbes and fermentation to convert the carbon monoxide from waste gas from industrial operations and other sources into biofuels and chemicals. Founded in 2005, LanzaTech originally hailed from New Zealand and in recent years has started building demonstration projects in China.

LanzaTech is already working with two Chinese steel manufacturers – Baosteel and Capital Steel — to turn waste gas from their operations into ethanol. LanzaTech said it has installed equipment for a demonstration plant at Baosteel and plans to start production later this year. Last November, the biofuel company also announced a plan to work with a large Chinese coal producer – Yankuang Group — to produce fuels and chemicals from synthesis gas produced by Yankuang’s gasification equipment.

5). PowerGenix and China City Construction Corps: San Diego-based PowerGenix spent the past year hunting for a partner in China and announced in January that it’s forming a joint venture with China City Construction Corp. to produce its nickel-zinc batteries for the so-called microhybrid vehicles. By the end of this year, the joint venture, called CCCC-PowerGenix Clean Energy Co., plans to set up a factory to produce 400,000 batteries per year, or 200,000 watt-hours total.

6). TerraPower and the Chinese government: Nuclear startup TerraPower doesn’t have an official deal to build a reactor with China’s National Nuclear Corporation (despite media reports), but TerraPower investor Bill Gates (yes that Bill Gates) says that TerraPower is having preliminary discussions with the Chinese government over its nuclear tech.

TerraPower is developing nuclear traveling wave reactor technology, which is a relatively new type of small nuclear reactor design that can use the waste byproduct of the enrichment process, or waste uranium, for fuel. TerraPower’s backers have long said it will likely commercialize its technology first outside the U.S.

7). Brammo and the Hong Kong government: Electric motorcycle maker Brammo says it’s scored a deal to supply the Hong Kong government and police force with its electric motorcycles. Brammo says the Hong Kong government will replace its existing gas-powered motorcycle fleet with Brammo’s Enertia.

Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department will use the Enertia Plus, while the Hong Kong police department will use the 2012 Enertia Plus “LE,” or the Law Enforcement edition, which has features for police. Brammo’s exclusive dealer in Hong Kong is JCAM Advanced Mobility Company.

8). Silevo and Chinese venture firms: California startup Silevo is building a hybrid solar cell design that uses single-crystal silicon as the base layer on which it adds a “tunneling oxide layer” and a layer of amorphous silicon to alter the voltage and current of the cells. Silevo raised $55 million in venture capital from investors, including three China-based firms: DT Capital (affiliated with Madrone Capital),  NewMargin Ventures, and GSR Ventures (connected to Mayfield Fund).

Silevo is in the process of building a 30 MW factory in Hangzhou, China, and expects to bring the factory into full production mode during the first quarter of 2012. The company plans to add another 200 MW in 2013 if demand is there.

9). Boston-Power and the Chinese government: Boston-Power, a lithium-ion battery maker, raised $125 million in venture capital and Chinese government incentives to move its manufacturing base to China. Boston-Power plans to build a lithium-ion battery cell factory near Shanghai and a technology center in Beijing where its staff will work with customers to integrate Boston-Power’s cells into electric drivetrains.

10). Sunpreme and Chinese investors: Solar cell maker Sunpreme raised roughly $50 million in a series B round to build a factory in Jiaxing, China. Investors include International Finance Corp. (part of the World Bank Group), Capricorn Investment Group and China Environmental Fund III (managed by Tsing Capital in China).

Images courtesy of Boston-Power, Silevo, Dainis Matisons, PowerGenix, Bridgelux, Smith Electric Vehicles and GreatPoint Energy.

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Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department will use the Enertia Plus, while the Hong Kong police department will use the 2012 Enertia Plus “LE,” or the Law Enforcement edition, which has features for police. Brammo’s exclusive dealer in Hong Kong is JCAM Advanced Mobility Company.

I’m not sure how many electric motorcycles the deal entails, but I’ve asked the company and will update this when I know more. It’s gotta be sizable, particularly for Brammo, which is a small company based in Ashland, Ore.

Two-wheeled EVs in China

The electric vehicle market is being driven by sales of electric scooters, motorcycles, and e-bikes sold in China, as the Chinese government has banned gas-powered motorcycles in some places. According to Lux Research, sales of batteries for electric bikes and scooters will grow from being a $6.4 billion market in 2010 to a $10.9 billion market in 2015 (11 percent growth), led by the Chinese market. According to some statistics the market for electric motorcycles in China is expected to grow 11 percent per year through 2014 to 31.6 million units.

All the electric motorcycle, and scooter startups are angling for deals like this one, including firms like Mission Motors, Vectrix, Zero Motorcycles, and KLD Energy. Focusing on the U.S. market alone isn’t enough for these companies.

Brammo’s plans

Just last week Brammo announced it has raised another $28 million, and no doubt securing that funding had something to do with this deal. The funding was led by Polaris Industries, which makes sporting vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles. Brammo is also backed by Alpine Energy; NorthPort Investments; the venture arm of Best Buy, Best Buy Capital; and Canadian investment firm Chrysalix.

The Enertia electric motorcycle has a 60–70 mph max speed, 40-mile range and roughly $8,000 price tag. But Brammo has been planning on building higher-end bikes, including its Empulse, which has a new battery pack, a power management system and a water-cooled motor. The Empulse has a 100-mph top speed, an average range of 60 miles per charge and an estimated starting price of $9,995.

Brammo is also building four new, 6-speed models that are using a transmission system that enables higher speeds and the equivalent of the performance of a traditional gas-based motorcycle. The transmission tech — called the Integrated Electric Transmission (IET) — will come from partner SMRE Engineering, and the prices for these motorcycles clock in around $10,000 to $12,000.

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Brammo already sells its Enertia electric motorcycle, which has a 60–70 mph max speed, 40-mile range and roughly $8,000 price tag. We test-drove that bike last year (see video below). However, the Enertia drives more like a scooter than a high-end motorcycle, and Brammo has been looking to boost its performance and range over the years.

The next electric motorcycle in line for Brammo is the Empulse, which has a new battery pack, a power management system and a water-cooled motor. The Empulse has a 100 mph top speed, an average range of 60 miles per charge and an estimated starting price of $9,995. (Photos are of the Empulse.)

Then earlier this year Brammo said that it plans to sell even higher-end bikes, including four new 6-speed models that are using a transmission system that enables higher speeds and the equivalent of the performance of a traditional gas-based motorcycle. The transmission tech — called the Integrated Electric Transmission (IET) — will come from partner SMRE Engineering, and the prices for these motorcycles clock in around $10,000 to $12,000.

Other investors in the round include Alpine Energy and NorthPort Investments. Previous investors in Brammo have been the venture arm of Best Buy, Best Buy Capital, and Canadian investment firm Chrysalix.

Here’s my test drive of the Brammo Enertia:

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Is Oregon the next promised land for clean technology? The Beaver State has, in recent years, been trying to position itself as a major player in regard to support for green energy, electric vehicle development and more. In fact, some say it could generate a potential $5.4 billion in clean energy investments this year alone.

Most folks familiar with Oregon’s green energy scene know traditional hydropower from dams has long been the dominant energy alternative to fossil fuel-based electricity. So much so, that this year the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which markets electric power generated from the Bonneville Dam set in the Columbia River, chose water power over wind when the water flows were high this year. The wind industry was none too happy with the choice.

Tussles between clean energy providers aside, most in the clean tech sector in Oregon generally play well with one another when it comes to supporting mutual development. For example, Vestas, a well-established wind power company, is renovating a 102-year old building in downtown Portland to be its U.S. headquarters. And to help power this building, it turned to Hillsboro, Ore. neighbor SolarWorld, which will be providing enough solar panels atop the location to power 12 percent of its energy needs.

While lacking any high-flying green car players like Tesla Motors or Fisker Automotive, Oregon definitely has its share of up-and-coming companies in the electric vehicle and hybrid space – particularly when it comes to non-traditional automotive formats. Electric motorcycle developers like Brammo and MotoCzysz call the state home, sharing the open road alongside unique EVs from the likes of Arcimoto and Green Lite Motors.

More mainstream green car adoption in this state is high as well, with it seeming like every fourth or fifth car that passes you on Portland roads is a Prius or other hybrid. Toyota seems to dig that, and last year, it selected Portland State University as a test spot for its upcoming Prius Plug-In Hybrid. The state also has a large portion of the early electric vehicle chargers installed and was one of the early places the Nissan Leaf went on sale.

In considering further evidence of why Oregon is a green tech lover’s paradise, one only need consider the power purchasing habits of the locals. The U.S. Energy Administration, in a recent report, found the state leads the nation in those enrolled in green power purchase programs: roughly 1 out of every 30 energy customers. This is further backed by data from the EPA’s Green Power Community Challenge Rankings, which show that out of the top 10 cities based upon green power usage, six spots are held by Oregon cities.

And in the on deck circle for future clean tech happenings in Oregon? Green buildings that go beyond LEED, wave energy development and a strong potential in green chemistry, just to name a few.

Image courtesy of dougtone, ChrisYunker.

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New Enterprise Associates led the new round, which also included money from existing investors such as Lightspeed Ventures and Sigma Partners. Overall, Leyden has raised $38 million in venture capital since its inception in 2007, Nick Cataldo, vice president of business development at Leyden, told us.

It was only in May of this year that the Fremont, Calif., based startup announced its first commercial product, six months after it completed research and development work and began production in China, company CEO, Aakar Patel, said back in May. Leyden also announced its first customer, Dr. Battery, which is selling replacement laptop battery packs containing Leyden’s cells. Canada-based Dr. Battery, which sells batteries for a variety of mobile consumer electronics, plans to add batteries featuring Leyden cells later this year. Leyden also expects to see its cells inside tablet PCs later this year.

Although Leyden’s cells can run over 1,000 cycles and three years, Dr. Battery is currently offering Leyden-embedded laptop batteries with a 2-year warranty. Warranty terms aren’t determined solely on the performance of the battery cells. Dr. Battery takes into consideration the overall performance of the battery pack – it’s Dr. Battery, not Leyden, that designs the battery packs and the related electronics to run the cells.

eBike batteries

Leyden has long talked about its interest in developing cells for the transportation market. But targeting gadgets first makes sense not just because it’s an established market, Cataldo said, but also because electronics manufacturers are pushing for higher energy density and other improvements so that consumers can run the growing number of applications on their gadgets. Any of the technology improvements made for the gadget market can apply to battery developments for electric cars, he added.

The company has received a $2.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission to build a manufacturing line in the state with Green Vehicles to produce 10 battery packs per month. Leyden also won an $117,733 grant from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium last year to develop cells for electric vehicles.

In addition Leyden also is working with Dr. Battery to put its cells inside battery packs for electric bicycles, Dr. Battery’s chief financial officer, Fan Chun, told me.

Although Leyden has played up a research effort last year to see if its battery cells would be a good fit for Brammo’s electric motorcycles, the company doesn’t have a supply agreement with Brammo. Brammo’s director of product development, Brian Wismann, told me in May that Brammo was waiting for the automotive version of Leyden’s cells. He said Leyden’s technology promises to deliver battery packs with good thermal management, energy density and longevity.

Leyden is particularly proud of its cells for performing well in high temperatures. Running too hot is a known problem for lithium-ion batteries, so battery developers are investigating new materials, cooling technologies and monitoring hardware and software to manage the operating temperatures of batteries. Leyden has focused primarily on improving the electrolyte and current collector.

Photos courtesy of Leyden Energy

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The transmission tech — called the Integrated Electric Transmission (IET) — will come from partner SMRE Engineering, and Brammo is launching four models using the IET tech (see photos below). Prices for these motorcycles are similar to the company’s previously priced ones of between $10,000 and $12,000.

The idea behind the new tech and adding multiple speeds is to give Brammo’s electric motorcycles more performance and more of the feel of a traditional gas-powered motorcycle, with a clutch and gear shift. As you can see from my video test drive of the Brammo Enertia (embedded below) it’s a pretty tame motorcycle, and drives almost like a scooter, with no clutch and no gear shift.

The Enertia was a fun ride for me (a occasional scooter rider, but not a motorcycle rider), but would be a bit slow for a hardcore motorcycle enthusiast. On the other hand, a more mellow scooter rider likely wouldn’t want to pay those kind of prices. It’s a tough spot to be in, which is likely why Brammo is launching these newer more motorcycle-feeling models.

We’ll try to get a test drive of these in the near future, but for now these photos and videos are of prototypes. Brammo has been looking to raise $30 million to expand its products and grow sales, and has closed on $12.5 million of the round.

Brammo has also been planning to launch its second electric motorcycle the Empulse, which is faster, pricier and has a longer range than the Enertia.

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Founded in early 2006 in Santa Cruz, Calif., Zero builds street and dirt bikes that run on lithium-ion batteries and sell for about $10,000. By 2007 it had found some high-profile customers, including Google founder Larry Page. The company is in the midst of a common phase in startup growth where new money comes in, old leadership exits, and seasoned executives step up to try and bring the company into the big leagues.

“It’s definitely a different company now,” Marketing VP Scot Harden said in an interview today. Investors have had a strategy “to make over the company for over a year now.” The overriding goal is to go from a niche electric bike startup to “a true, honest-to-god motorcycle company.” And that means building a team with “true, honest-to-god motorcycle experience.”

Chief Operating Officer Karl Wharton, who joined Zero in February after several years at Triumph Motorcycles, will take over direction of day-to-day operations while the company seeks a new CEO, a Zero spokesperson confirmed with us today. Although Banman will remain on the board of directors, he plans to “get some R&R and travel, and then do some part time work with non-profits,” according to Zero’s release.

Saiki started the company with his wife Lisa in their garage, having previously worked as an engineer for NASA and designed bike frames for Trek and Santa Cruz Bicycles. Banman, meanwhile, is one of many entrepreneurs, investors and executives who shifted gears from infotech to greentech over the last 5-10 years. (Check out our list of 25 who switched.) His background includes 15 years at Sun Microsystems, where he spent five years heading up Sun Microsystems, Japan. Later he became chief executive of the network firewall startup NetContinuum (acquired by Barracuda Networks in 2007). (See Saiki in our video clip below)

Both Banman and Saiki “were instrumental in convincing” private equity firm Invus Group to invest in Zero, Invus Managing Director Afalalo Guimaraes said in a statement on Tuesday. Invus became the company’s principal backer in 2008.

For 2011, said Harden, Zero is focused on “laying the foundation” for growth by establishing new engineering, manufacturing and marketing processes, and changing its approach to sales and distribution.

In the company’s early stages it “made sense” to use independent sales representatives, he said. But now Zero is working to establish distribution through “more traditional power sports dealers.” As part of that effort, it is “going through the process of getting licensed in every state,” and within 3-6 months Harden said Zero hopes to be ready for sales throughout the U.S. Next, the company plans to turn its attention to Europe.

Zero has sought to reinvent not only processes, but also the product itself. Previous models were basically “mountain bikes with electric motors in them. They lacked components that real motorcyclists would see right off the bat,” said Harden. Zero’s 2011 lineup includes five models: the Zero DS, Zero S, Zero XU, Zero MX and Zero X. Popular Mechanics reviewed the Zero DS and concluded that the company’s designs have “come a long way” in the last few years:

Their two-wheeled creations now feel less like glorified mountain bikes and more like motorcycles—well, perhaps junior motorcycles. They’ve increased battery capacity and reinforced suspension components, offering a product that’s more mature than it’s ever been.

At this point Zero is assembling about 30-40 bikes per week at its new Scotts Valley factory, which just a few weeks ago “was an empty warehouse,” said Harden. “We could easily do 60 to 70 a week once we get some rough edges smoothed out.” The company has about 70 employees, up from fewer than 50 around this time last year.

According to Pike Research, in a small market with seven or eight different manufacturers (including Brammo and Mission Motors), the bottom line for electric motorcycle manufacturers eyeing the U.S. market is whether they will prove “either profitable enough or specialized enough to be sustained over the next several years until demand grows to meet the growing supply.” So for all of Zero’s ambition, and its financial fuel for growth, it’s still an open question how much appetite Zero will be able to stoke for its electric motorcycles when the dust finally settles from its shakeup.

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The financing isn’t KLD Energy’s first. Last Summer the electric vehicle tech maker raised $4.9 million in equity, and then another $2.8 million in equity and debt earlier this month. KLD also announced a $1 million Series A financing round in 2009, and regulatory filings show a pair of $2 million equity raises during the first few months of 2010.

KLD Energy makes an electric drive system that includes a battery, battery management system, electric motor and motor controller. The company says its technology can give electric two- and three-wheeled vehicles speed and performance capabilities on par with gas-powered counterparts. KLD’s system has no transmission, has high frequency and low RPM, and uses a computerized controller.

Ferber told us last summer that KLD planned to build its business by first deploying its system in electric three-wheelers and scooters internationally (starting in Asia and South America), and targeting the electric scooter market in the U.S. through a deal with Vietnamese scooter manufacturer Sufat (with a starting scooter price of $3,288). KLD Energy offers the technology for licensing, while its subsidiary KLD Motors America manufactures electric motors using a nano-crystalline composite material at a facility in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam.

As we’ve noted before, companies that move early and fast to dominate the EV market in China — which has significant government support on its side and could reach $220 billion by 2030 — could use the country as a springboard for a broader international play.

But remember it’s not exactly easy to be a startup electric scooter maker. The business costs a lot of capital (as you can see by the fund-raising), and it’s a field that has no shortage of casualties (Vectrix closed up shop in 2009 but has more recently emerged). There’s also a lot of competition from players like Brammo, Zero Motorcycles, UltraMotors, Mission Motors, and Vectrix (and that’s only the startups).

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