Smart Energy News

Cambridge, Mass. — Vanterra Capital and C Change Investments, two private equity firms, have partnered to form Vanterra C Change Transformative Energy & Materials Fund (TEM), a $100 million investment vehicle.

The new fund will focus on investments in companies that help transform the operations of industrial users and producers of energy and materials, according to an announcement.

Leadership at the new firm includes John Preston, energy investor and former director of technology development at MIT; John Sylvia, a former partner at TPG and COO of CalEnergy; Roger Berry, formerly of Climate Change Capital; and Alan Quasha and Shad Azimi, managing partners of Vanterra Capital.

Vanterra Capital is a private equity firm that currently manages private equity funds and other investment vehicles of over $660 million. C Change Investments is a fund manager focused on the energy and materials industries.

C Change Investments website

Vanterra Capital website

Santa Clara, Calif. – Applied Materials, the Santa Clara-based provider of nanomanufacturing technology for the semiconductor, flat panel display and solar industries, has joined in a $3.8 million first round of venture capital for BT Imaging, an Australia-based developer of luminescence-based inspection and quality control systems for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry.

Founded in 2007, BT Imaging offers a suite of inspection tools that support material quality control and process debug and control. The company’s technology was originally developed at the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Silicon Photovoltaics and Photonics at the University of New South Wales.

BT Imaging’s first product is being used by research institutions to qualify new photovoltaic manufacturing processes. The company has sales and marketing operations in Germany and California, and distributors in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and South East Asia.

“Due to the yield and efficiency gains that our products enable, we are experiencing strong demand from manufacturers in multiple segments of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry,” said Ian Maxwell, CEO of BT Imaging, in an announcement. “This financing provides us with additional R&D and product development capability, putting the company at least a year ahead of its original roadmap.”

Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) invested in BT Imaging through its venture capital arm, Applied Ventures.

BT Imaging website

Applied Materials website

Devens, Mass. — American Superconductor Corp., a maker of various advanced power distribution and generation technologies, has acquired a 25% stake in Blade Dynamics, a manufacturer of high-power wind turbine blades.

In connection with the deal, Dow Chemical Co., through its venture capital group, has also made a minority equity investment in Blade Dynamics, American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) said.

Founded in the U.K. in 2007, Blade Dynamics has developed wind turbine blade technologies designed to increase the efficiency and performance of very high-power, multi-megawatt wind turbines.

“The design and manufacturing processes for wind turbine blades have remained fundamentally unchanged for 20 years,” said Greg Yurek, CEO of American Superconductor, in an announcement. “Blade Dynamics presents us – and the entire wind industry – with a game-changing wind turbine blade technology that enhances performance and reduces weight and cost for high power wind turbines.”

Also in connection with the American Superconductor deal and Dow Chemical’s investment, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) announced that it is providing an incentive package worth up to $30 million for Blade Dynamics to establish and operate a manufacturing facility in New Orleans

Located at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, the Blade Dynamics operation is expected to add at least 600 direct new jobs to the local economy over the next decade, according to the announcement. LED will also provide workforce support to Blade Dynamics, including recruitment, screening, training development, and training delivery, for up to two years during the company’s ramp-up.

The Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by NASA, located in eastern New Orleans. NASA and Lockheed Martin have used the site for the construction of the Space Shuttle’s external fuel tanks for more than 30 years. It is now a multi-tenant complex for NASA, other government agencies, government contractors and commercial businesses.

Blade Dynamics plans to eventually expand its operations in the U.K. to focus on the offshore wind market in Europe, American Superconductor said.

Blade Dynamics website

American Superconductor website

Littleton, Colo. — Infinite Power Solutions Inc., a manufacturer of thin-film micro-energy storage devices, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $20 million in its third round of venture capital, which was co-led by D. E. Shaw Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Core Capital Partners.

Founded in 2001, Infinite Power makes solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film micro-energy storage devices that it markets under its Thinergy brand for a variety of micro-electronic applications. The technology is intended to displace coin cells, supercapacitors, and other micro-batteries.

The company’s “ambient energy-harvesting solutions” derive power from various sources, including radio frequency, magnetic, solar, heat and vibration energy. They provide “miniature, autonomous, perpetual power supplies” for customers in the wireless sensor, active RFID, powered smart card, medical device, consumer electronics, automotive, as well as civil, military and aerospace markets.

Other investors in Infinite Power include Generation Investment Management, Applied Ventures, Texas Instruments and In-Q-Tel, which is an affiliate of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Infinite Power Solutions website

Austin, Texas – Having recently raised $15 million in its second round of venture capital, SolarBridge Technologies, a developer of solar power conversion products, announced that it has relocated to a new headquarters facility in Austin that is triple the square footage of its previous corporate base.

The move anticipates growth in the company’s employee headcount, SolarBridge said. The new location features lab space for research and development and will include an outdoor facility for field testing of SolarBridge products.

SolarBridge was founded in 2004, based on technology developed at the University of Illinois. The company maintains a key research and development site in Champaign, Ill.

Last year, SolarBridge launched a new corporate strategy to focus exclusively on the solar industry with microinverter and monitoring products that are designed to improve reliability, increase energy production, and simplify installation.

Earlier this year, SolarBridge raised its second round of venture capital, after receiving $1.5 million of support from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The company has raised a total of about $27 million since its founding.

Solar Bridge website

Texas Emerging Technology Fund website