Greentech VC for Smart Grid, Solar, Lighting Plus Halosource’s Water IPO

Another week of VC investment into greentech startups.

Greentech IPO

Seattle-based Halosource makes technology to purify drinking water.  The firm raised $10 million from Prime Partners Merchant Capital of Singapore in January of this year and has raised a total of about $30 million since 2007 from Credit Suisse, Siemens, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Alexander Hutton Venture Partners, Montlake Capital, and WRF Capital.

This week the company raised $80 million through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange AIM listing. 

Drinking water is an enormous global issue and an enormous global market. Halosource has two core technologies: N-halamines and Chitosan. N-halamines use chlorine and bromine for drinking water and antimicrobial treatments.  Chitosan chemistry binds sediments and other pollutants or impurities in water so they can be filtered out, a process designed for use in recreational water, industrial water, construction site run-off and other wastewater or water recycling applications.

The AIM is for small companies and has its supporters and detractors in the VC community.  It's certainly an exit and a way of raising some liquidity.  But the exits are rarely in the hoped-for VC multiples and the company is faced with the reporting requirements of a public company.



VC Funding in Greentech



Accent, a Milan, Italy-based builder of system-on-chip semiconductor products for the smart grid, raised $7 million in Round B funding from Dado Banatao's Tallwood Venture Capital.



Cyber-Rain, a Los Angeles-based maker of internet-based smart sprinkler controller systems, raised $1.8 million in Round B funding led by DeWaay Investment Partners with Athenian Venture Partners, Momentum Venture Management and Funk Ventures.

Redwood Systems, a Fremont, Calif.-based maker of network-based lighting power and control systems, raised $15 million in Round B funding led by Index Ventures with Battery Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.

Hyderabad-based Titan Energy Systems won $6.8 million in funding from FCI Venture Capital, through its Green India Venture Fund.  Titan Energy Systems makes c-Si solar PV modules and is an engineering procurement and consultancy service.