Snippets: Carmanah, Sonic and Cleantech investing data
Victoria, B.C.-based Carmanah Technologies has diverted its production efforts towards handling a surge of orders from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The company received orders for 500 of its marine, railway and aviation lights the week following Katrina. The LED units are powered by a combination of solar PV and batteries, meaning they require no electrical wiring and operate for five years or longer with no maintenance. Carmanah told the Vancouver Sun that it has sent all its inventory to the region, which will also be given priority as new units are produced. About 300 of the lighting units will be used by the U.S. Coast Guard, with the rest distributed to affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Meanwhile, Sonic Environmental Solutions Inc. of Vancouver is raising $2.2 million in a private placement. The proceeds will go towards advancing the development of Sonic’s PCB-decontamination technology, which uses sonic energy to literally shake contaminated soil or fluids and accelerate chemical processes that break down PCBs. Click here and here for past posts.
Also today, Cleantech Venture Network released its latest data on cleantech investing. In the second quarter of 2005 investments in cleantech grew to $369 million (U.S.), up 9 per cent from the first quarter. In the first half of 2005, investments have jumped 21 per cent to $705 million compared to last year. The venture network is forecasting that more than $1.5 billion will be invested in cleantech deals by year end, a 25 per cent year-over-year increase, due to rising energy prices, after-effects of Hurricane Katrina and cleantech-friendly energy legislation. Indeed, energy-specific cleantech investments in the second quarter amounted to a little more than half of all investments.
“The most active investors in Q2 were RockPort Capital Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, each participating in three cleantech financings. Altira Group, New Enterprise Associates, Odyssey Venture Partners, OnPoint Technologies, SAM-Sustainable Asset Management, and Venture Capital Fund of New England participated in two deals each,” according to Cleantech Venture Network.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
