NGEN’s $180mm, plus GridPoint, BPL Global, and the California Clean Tech Open

• NGEN Partners announced that they’ve closed their second fund at $180mm.  The Santa Barbara, CA firm’s unique angle on cleantech is their focus on advanced materials technologies.  Congrats to NGEN, one of several firms that have been actively raising cleantech-focused funds at the moment.

• GridPoint, the provider of energy storage appliances for the home, announced $21mm in funding, mostly from Goldman Sachs.  Also announced was a demand response co-marketing arrangement with Goldman’s subsidiary Cogentrix.  This could be an indication that Cogentrix is going to be more directly taking on existing demand response players such as Comverge, EnerNOC and ConsumerPowerline—a fast growing market segment that has attracted a lot of cleantech VC interest.

• BPL Global, a provider of broadband over powerline for “third pipe” and smart grid applications, announced a $25mm Series C.  Interestingly, a Kuwait-led consortium provided the financing, including existing investor Al-Deera Holding, and new investors International Financial Advisors, Kuwait Holding Company, and International Finance Company.  Other existing investors include DQE Communications, PA Early Stage, SZAR Partners and the company’s founders.
  

• Congrats to all of the California Clean Tech Open winners (KiteShip, Adura Technologies, Greenvolts, EDC Technologies, and Crystal Clear Technologies).  It was a lot of fun participating in the judging in this first year of the event, and I’m looking forward to next year’s competition.