Happy Thanksgiving

Lots of folks who have reason to be thankful for recent checks written and received:

• Solaicx has taken in $3mm from Applied Ventures. The silicon wafer manufacturer plans to use the funding to help build out a second manufacturing facility. In addition to generally addressing the current silicon shortage, Solaicx claims their process provides significant efficiency gains in silicon production as well.

• Materials discovery firm Intematix has taken in a $16.5mm Series C led by Crosslink Capital and Samsung Ventures. New investor Presidio STX and existing investors DFJ, East Gate Capital, and Pacifica Fund also participated in the round. The company's materials development efforts are finding applications in solid state lighting, fuel cells, and other clean technologies.

• Intechra, an e-waste management and recycling company, has taken in a $6.5mm round of financing led by SJF Ventures and including participation from Richland Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures, and Clayton Associates. The financing will be deployed toward a recent acquisition.
  

• TranSiC AB, a power transistor spin-off from the Royal Institute of Technology, Kista, Sweden, has raised $600,000 venture capital in a first round financing co-led by Volvo Technology Transfer Corp. and Midroc New Technology AB. The company's products are applicable toward a number of clean energy technologies including hybrid vehicles, DG, etc.

• Austria's IDENTEC Solutions, a developer of long-range RFID technology, has taken in a 10mm euro round of financing led by SAM Private Equity, and also including participation by Sustainable Performance Group, RFID Invest, gcp gamma capital partners, and a private investor. SAM and the other investors are looking for cleantech applications of RFID including asset management approaches to minimize the emissions impacts of transportation.

• Stion, the solar startup formerly known as NStructures, has sold a "significant minority stake" to Moser Baer PV, part of MBPV's continued $17mm effort to get into solar. Stion remains very stealthy...
  

• Two other deals highlighted/ scooped by PEWW today: The Beam, an online directory for green building professionals, has raised $5.17mm in a Series A led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. And car-share provider ZipCar has raised a $25mm Series E led by Greylock with participation from existing investors Benchmark and Boston Community Ventures.
  

• Cleantech investor news: New Resource Bank has officially opened its doors... And here is more information on the previously-mentioned Masdar Clean Tech Fund.

Some cleantech investing reading for over the holiday, in case the tryptophan doesn't take full effect: European cleantech investing fell significantly last quarter, at least in dollar/euro terms. Given how much impact a single large round could have on such small numbers, it would be interesting to see what happened in terms of number of deals done, too, otherwise these quarterly ups and downs are hard to parse through to get the big picture... Nuclear is "the greenest of the green"? Not to get embroiled in the debate, but it's important to note -- there is in fact a strong debate about this question... Here's a nice little column about all the cleantech ETFs that have been coming out recently... Short answer: No. The linked column gives a much nicer long answer (of particular note is the fact that oil does not substitute for most clean energy technologies, which are more directly related to electricity generation and use). However, some specific cleantech markets are much more directly impacted, potentially... Here's the most recent Fenwick & West VC terms survey... And finally, a new $150k sustainable energy technology prize -- get those bplans ready!