Canadian natural gas giant Encana backs Alphabet Energy
Startup Alphabet Energy, which makes materials out of silicon that convert heat into electricity, has raised a $16 million series B round led by Canadian natural gas company Encana. Read more »
The cell phone recycling kiosk is slowly invading malls near you
Kiosks are the latest option for you to recycle your perfectly good cell phone that you ditched for a newer model. Startup ecoATM plans to put hundreds of more recycling kiosks into places like malls this year. Read more »
Smart thermostats are taking over Las Vegas, and that’s a good thing
A startup selling a service that controls consumers’ smart thermostats for utilities has scored a deal for its service to be mass deployed throughout Las Vegas. Read more »
EcoFactor closes $8M for energy data, analytics
Startups using smart algorithms and big data continue to attract venture capital funding. Read more »
The new hotness in energy storage: gravel
Can a humble system of gravel and a heat pump provide a breakthrough for utility-scale energy storage? British startup Isentropic thinks so, and this week announced that they’ve raised $22 million in project funding and an equity investment. Read more »
EcoATM raises $17M for nationwide rollout of e-waste kiosks
San Diego-based EcoATM wants to make for electronic recycling convenient and even rewarding (with cash!), and the idea has enabled it to raise a B round of about $17 million to expand its reach nationwide. Read more »
The startup behind Bill Gates’ ‘ski lift for energy storage’
Who’s the startup behind Bill Gates’ recent description of a company he’s involved with that’s making energy storage out of “gravel on ski lifts?” Michael Kanellos guesses it’s Energy Cache, which is developing a solar-powered pump for delivering materials to the top of mountains. Read more »
The Internet of Things and energy
In the cleantech and utility worlds, it’s called “the smart grid” and “energy efficiency.” In the broader tech realm, it’s called the “Internet of Things.” Let’s bring these two ideas together, because the Internet of Things will play a crucial role in making systems more efficient. Read more »
The Googlization of solar
The Googlization of solar is here, and software, big data, wireless networks and IT will be a fundamental part of the future of modern energy infrastructure. Read more »
Green building firm Project Frog raises $22M from GE, VCs
Despite the seemingly downward short-term trend for cleantech investing, corporations and investors continue to back the green building sector. On Wednesday San Francisco–based energy-efficient building company Project Frog announced that it has raised $22 million from GE and a group of investors. Read more »
EcoFactor: Using big data to reduce home energy by 17%
EcoFactor, a startup that uses big data tools to act as a new brain for connected thermostats, says on average its services can reduce a person’s home energy use by 17 percent compared to a programmable but non-optimized thermostat. Read more »
For VC’s, No More Chasing Magic Batteries
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 »
Meet the Money Behind the Smart Grid at Green:Net ’11
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 »
ecoATM Raises $14.4M for eCycling Kiosks
Will kiosks in stores finally convince us all to recycle our gadgets and cell phones? Startup ecoATM and its investors think so — on Wednesday, ecoATM announced it’s raised a Series A round of $14.4 million in funding from Coinstar and Claremont Creek Ventures. Read more »
Alphabet Energy: From the Lab to the Factory
Startup Alphabet Energy, which is developing materials and devices that convert waste heat into usable electricity, told me this week that by 2012 they will deliver products to customers and throughout 2011 will be moving from the lab into the factory. Read more »
