Smart Energy News

Visalia, Calif. — EdeniQ, a biomaterials and biofuels company, announced it has raised about $30 million in a round of venture capital and debt financing, led by a group of existing and new investors with the company.

Founded in 2007, EdeniQ focuses on integrating mechanical and biological processes to efficiently break down plant material into sugars that become sustainable fuels or industrial materials.

“EdeniQ has demonstrated significant promise in its effort to create a scalable, cost-competitive and high-quality supply of sugars,” said John Denniston, of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of the company’s lead investors, in an announcement about the latest funding.

Other investors in EdeniQ include Cyrus Capital, The Westly Group, Angeleno Group, I2BF Global Ventures, and Element Partners as well as a new investor, Flint Hills Resources Renewables, a subsidiary of privately held Koch Industries, Inc.

Flint Hills is among the largest ethanol producers in the U.S., with four ethanol plants in Iowa.

EdenIQ website

Carlsbad, Calif. – Verdezyne, a privately developer of fermentation technology for renewable fuels and chemicals, has raised $10.5 million in convertible debt, the company disclosed in a new filing with securities regulators.

Investors in Verdezyne include BP Alternative Energy Ventures, DSM Venturing, and OVP Venture Partners.

Founded in 2005, Verdezyne focuses on optimizing the metabolic pathways, microorganisms and fermentation processes that enable economical production of renewable fuels and chemicals.

The company has developed a yeast production platform that optimizes the conversion of sugars from a variety of feedstocks, including starch, sugarcane and lignocellulosic biomass to renewable fuels and chemicals.

Last November, the company opened its first pilot plant to produce adipic acid, a key component of nylon. The new facility is designed toaccelerate the commercialization of Verdezyne’s bio-based adipic acid, which is one of two components used to manufacture green’ nylon and thermoplastic polyurethane resins from renewable sources, such as non-food based vegetable oils.

Photo credit: Verdezye

Verdezyne website

Campbell, Calif. — Coulomb Technologies, a provider of electric vehicle charging stations, announced it has raised $47.5 million in its fourth round of venture capital, which was co-led by two firms, Braemar Energy Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Also investing in the deal are Toyota Tsusho Corp., Rho Ventures, Voyager Capital, Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, Harbor Pacific Capital Partners and Hartford Ventures.

Coulomb works with automobile manufacturers including Nissan, BMW, Ford, GM, and Fisker Automotive, to help their customers find, reserve and pay for EV charging services.

In connection with the new financing, the company said it has recently seen significant market adoption of its networked hardware and cloud-based service plans. Coulomb is currently operating in 14 countries.

Coulomb Technologies website

Longmont, Colo. – TerraLUX, a maker of energy-efficient LED lighting products, announced on Monday it has raised $18.3 million in its second round of venture capital, which was led by Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm.

Founded in 2003, TerraLUX initially targeted the portable device market and has since expanded into the general lighting market.

The company now makes LED “light engines” and modules for OEM and retrofit applications, to replace traditional light sources in commercial and residential lighting, as well as flashlights and lighting tools.

TerraLUX raised its first round of venture capital in 2009. Other outside investors in the company include Emerald Technology Ventures and Access Venture Partners.

Image credit: TerraLUX

TerraLUX website

Littleton, Colo. – Infinite Power Solutions, a manufacturer of solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film energy storage devices for embedded applications, has raised $10 million in its fourth round of venture capital, which was co-led by investors Generation Investment Management, D. E. Shaw Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Core Capital Partners.

Founded in 2001, Infinite Power makes thin-film batteries to displace conventional coin cells, supercapacitors, and other micro-battery products.

The company’s batteries are paper-thin and support “ambient energy-harvesting” applications that create miniature, autonomous, perpetual power supplies.

Infinite Power’s products are used in Bluetooth devices and other wireless sensor nodes, as well as providing backup power for clocks, memory modules, and solid-state drives.

Other investors in the company include Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, In-Q-Tel and two additional strategic investors.

Image credit: Infinite Power Solutions

Infinite Power Solutions website