Comverge raises $5.5M Series C; Neah Power gets reverse-merged

• Comverge, which offers utility meter equipment and is also developing demand-response services (they'll turn down your air conditioner during peak usage times, in exchange for a rebate from your utility), announced a $5.5M Series C. The financing was provided by new investors Air Products and Chemicals and Partners for Growth, as well as existing investors Nth Power, EnerTech Capital Partners, Rockport Capital Partners, Norsk Hydro Ventures, Ridgewood Capital, Easton Hunt, and Data Systems & Software. The company has now taken in a total of $40.9M in venture financing.

• In one of the more titillating moves recently, micro fuel cell developer Neah Power has gone public through a reverse merger with Growth Merger... which is a defunct adult entertainment company. The move essentially allows Neah Power to go public through the old Growth Merger shell, a not-uncommon move, and often such shells can have colorful pasts. PE Week Wire suggests that this provides liquidity for Neah's existing investors, but for many such reverse mergers it's not the case, it's instead a vehicle for the company to go to public markets for future fundraising needs (often via private placements); but the company often remains a microcap with low daily trading volume and thus it doesn't provide much extra exit potential for large private investors...