Clean Sweep 30

A round-up of recent news in clean technology and cleantech investment.

Deals
Next-gen solar cell developer QuantaSol has received £320k follow-on funding from specialist investor Low Carbon Accelerator. LCA participated in the firm's £1.35m seed round in June 2007.
QuantaSol, a spin-out from Imperial College London, is developing thin-film photovoltaic cells for use in concentrating solar modules. The Surrey-based firm used its initial funding to develop prototypes of its high-efficiency gallium-arsenide cells, and will use this new investment to continue product development.

Waste water treatment start-up Microbial Solutions Ltd (nowt at website as yet) has raised a £1.2m round led by Oxford Capital Partners. Existing investors H2O Venture Partners and Rainbow Seed Fund also increased their funding.
Oxford-based Microbial Solutions was spun out from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, part of the National Environment Research Council (NERC), in September 2007. The firm uses patent-protected bacteria to clean waste fluids from the metalworking industries, so that they can be safely disposed of in sewers on-site.

Hazardous waste specialist Envirotreat has secured £1.7m and a new chief executive. E-Synergy led the round with a £1m investment, while Pre-X invested £350k and Catapult Venture Managers £325k.
Based near Dudley, Envirotreat has so far supplied its proprietary soil, waste and groundwater remediation services to over 60 sites nationwide. Duncan Martin, formerly a director at Veolia Environmental Services, joins as CEO to drive the next stage of growth.

London-based utilities investor EcoFin led a $105m fundraising for Israeli solar thermal developer Solel. Solel has over 20 years experience in solar thermal and is currently constructing 150MW worth of plant in Spain, and has signed up for a 553MW project in California.

Busy times over in California. Renewable energy systems provider Fat Spaniel closed its second round at $18m (shy of the $20mm target announced in November). Ignition Partners led the round. The firm provides software and hardware that helps renewable energy suppliers monitor efficiency and count their carbon-saving credits.
Enphase Energy, which is developing micro-inverter based solar energy management systems, raised a $6.5m round led by Third Point Ventures.
Wind turbine developer Marquiss Wind Power secured a $1.3m first round led by Velocity Venture Capital. Marquiss is commercialising its patent-protected ducted wind turbines for rooftop use.
Stealthy diesel engine developer Achates Power has reportedly raised undisclosed funding from investors including Sequoia Capital, RockPort Capital, Interwest Partners, and Madrone Capital Partners. The San Diego firm says it is developing a fuel-efficient clean diesel engine combining "proven designs with modern technology and breakthrough innovations".
And in energy-efficient lighting, Luxim raised an extra $21m from DAG Ventures and others including Sequoia; while stealthy solid-state startup SJS Technology raised $2.5m from cleantech stalwart Khosla Ventures.