Funding Roundup: Will Green Investments Bring Ireland More Luck?

• On Thursday, CMEA Ventures said it had closed its largest venture fund at $400 million. The fund, CMEA Ventures VII, will be used to invest in a variety of sectors including energy, materials, information technology and life sciences. The San Francisco Bay area-based venture firm’s cleantech portfolio companies include A123 Systems and Solar Company.

• Credit Suisse, together with its clients and affiliates, will invest at least $300 million in renewable-energy companies. Investments will be doled out through private-equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners.

• iNovia Capital, a Canadian manager of seed and early stage venture-capital funds, announced last week the launch of its $107 million Canadian ($104 million) second fund. The financing firm will devote about 25 percent of the fund to cleantech, said Josko Bobanovic, a principal at iNovia. The rest will be devoted to information technology and life sciences.

Public

• Pacific Ethanol (NSDQ: PEIX) announced after the market close Thursday that the company had snagged a $40 million cash infusion by selling stock to Lyles United (see Pacific Ethanol Gets Much-Needed Cash). The news came less than a month after the Sacramento, Calif.-based ethanol producer said it might be forced to delay or abandon construction of its plants if it is unable to raise additional financing (see Pacific Ethanol Falls 13% on Expected Loss).

• Ascent Solar Technologies (NSDQ: ASTI) said Friday it was raising approximately $28.4 million from Norsk Hydro in a deal set to close Monday. Ascent, which develops thin-film solar panels, sold 2.3 million shares of common stock and 1.7 million Class B warrants to Norsk subsidiary Norsk Hydro Produksjon. The company now owns about 35 percent of Ascent’s common shares, as well as 35 percent of its Class B warrants.

Government

• The U.S. Department of Energy last week said it will invest $13.7 million in 11 university-led solar projects aimed at making solar energy cost-competitive with traditional electricity by 2015. The grants, which will be spread out over the three years, will be matched with a 20-percent industry investment, bringing the total commitment to $17.4 million. The University of Delaware said it has been selected to receive a $3.75 million DOE grant for its research into high-efficiency silicon-based solar cells. The DOE also announced it would spend up to $2.4 million to help 12 cities go solar.

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has signed a $26 million deal with a consortium of universities, including Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University, to develop cleaner, more efficient fossil-fuel technologies.

• Ohio’s Third Frontier Commission last week awarded more than $12 million in grants for "advanced energy" projects, including those in wind and solar power, alternative fuels, energy storage and instruments, controls and electronics.