Israel Cleantech, Firefly and Range Fuels

• Pleased to note Israel Cleantech Ventures’ announcement that they have reached a final close on their first fund at $75mm, above the original target of $60mm.  Robeco Private Equity and Piper Jaffray joined other institutional and family fund LPs in backing the group.  Good guys over at ICV, so it’s great to see.

• Firefly Energy, which has advanced designs for lead-acid batteries, has raised a $16mm Series C led by Khosla Ventures and Infield Capital, with participation by existing investors Stark Capital, Caterpillar, and others.  The company had last raised a $10mm Series B back in 2006.

• Range Fuels’ latest round keeps expanding—apparently it’s now up to $158mm.

In other news:  A good column in the Economist on the management challenge facing cleantech, highlighting (albeit not by name) the New England Clean Energy Council’s new Fellowship Program...  The X-Prize is expanding into other cleantech areas…  Finally, Tesla Motors has a new competitor!