Mitsui backs smart grid company Viridity Energy
A smart grid software startup raises $15 million from Japanese conglomerate Mitsui. Read more »
Braemar closes $300M fund for energy tech
At least one venture firm is still standing strong behind energy technology. Ten-year-old Braemar Energy Ventures announced on Wednesday that it has closed its latest third fund, of $300 million, to invest in energy technologies. Read more »
Startup building super grid hub raises funds
Tres Amigas, a startup with an audacious proposal to build a transmission hub to connect the U.S.’s three major grids in the east, west and Texas, is raising funding to try to move forward with its design. Read more »
Siemens backs home energy startup Tendril
Power gear giant Siemens announced on Monday that it has invested in, and will also market technologies from, home energy startup Tendril. Tendril sells software and devices that monitor and manage the home energy consumption of consumers. Read more »
VIDEO: How Viridity Energy Is Marrying Big Data & Energy
We can’t get enough of companies using smart algorithms and data management to make the power grid run more smoothly and to promote energy efficiency. Viridity Energy is a great example and watch my video interview with Viridity Energy SVP Laura Manz. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Green IT Q1: Cleantech Breaking Out — and Bracing for Hard Times
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Viridity Energy Takes Demand Response to Military Bases
Viridity Energy is competing for a Defense Department contract to control power use at federal and military facilities, and has already signed up one military base customer. That’s a big prize for a startup, if it can scale to match its demands. Read more »
Green:Net 2011: Announcing Our 10 Big Ideas Winners
Presenting our 10 Big Ideas winners, which are some of the most innovative in the digital energy space, and have novel “Big Ideas” for how to use information technology to fight climate change. The winners will present at Green:Net 2011 on April 21 in San Francisco. Read more »
Negawatts vs. Megawatts: What’s the Right Price?
A new rule giving demand response “negawatts” an equal price as megawatts of generated power on energy markets is meant to make the grid more efficient and power more affordable. But what if it backfires? Read more »
Intel, Braemar, Invest in Viridity Energy for Smart Grid
Intel Capital and Braemar Energy have invested an undisclosed amount of funding into Viridity Energy, a startup which makes software that dynamically manages power loads on the grid in terms of energy pricing, renewable energy generation and energy storage. Read more »
Smart Grid Grants: Underground Wireless and Battery-Assisted Circuits
The Department of Energy quietly handed out about $19 million in grants this week for five interesting smart grid experiments, including underground wireless communications and energy storage circuits. Read more »
Startups Team Up to Remake Grid Transmission
Transmission lines — which carry power from power plants to the distribution point where electricity can then light up our houses — are getting an unusual dose of the entrepreneurial spirit. Transmission super hub startup Tres Amigas and smart software energy startup Viridity Energy have teamed up. Read more »
How Much Could Conan O’Brien Make Online?
It’s not clear where Conan O’Brien will end up when he finally departs NBC, but some have suggested he take his act online, where a number of people already watch his antics. Revision3 even issued an open letter to the late-night talk show host, promising him […] Read more »
The Tech Vendors That Will Cash in on the Smart Grid Stimulus Funds
In a couple months the $3.4 billion in stimulus funds for smart grid projects will be doled out to about 100 utilities and cities. But the tech vendors — smart meter makers, network software developers, wireless sensor gear companies — will see those funds flow down […] Read more »
What the Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Will Do For Startups
Scan our list of the companies lining up to get a piece of the roughly $4 billion in stimulus funds for the smart grid and here’s what you’ll find: utilities far and away dominate the queue. But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that a […] Read more »
