Philadelphia, Pa. – U.S. Small Business Administration officials, leaders from federal, state and local government gathered at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to mark the first Intermediary Loan Program loan in Pennsylvania today.

The investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners/SEP to Novetas Solutions, LLC, will expand jobs for the company’s green, worker friendly products. Novetas produces and sells “New Age Blast Media,” an innovative alternative sandblasting abrasive made from 100% recycled glass used for blast cleaning and preparation of surfaces including bridges, pipes, ships and cars.

“Novetas has already put the much needed ILP Funds to good use by hiring additional staff and building our inventory of New Age Blast Media to meet the needs of the abrasive blast industry,” said Novetas Solutions President Paul J. Mellon, Jr. “We hope to be well positioned to serve abrasive blast employers nationwide. Our green-based, crushed glass abrasive is safe for workers and the environment, so it’s a winning combination for the use of taxpayer dollars to help create jobs.”

“The loan Ben Franklin Technology Partners is making is a good example of how the program enables SBA to partner with community lenders to increase access to capital for small businesses like Novetas,” said SBA Regional Administrator Bridget Bean. “It’s a great start for the program in Pennsylvania.”

Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners/SEP was selected by SBA as one of only 20 national lending organizations to participate in the ILP pilot program which makes loans up to $200,000 to qualifying small businesses. Authorized by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the new program provides direct loans to organizations like Ben Franklin Technology Partners/SEP, which in turn uses those funds to help finance small businesses, mostly in underserved markets.

“This new source of capital from the SBA is very welcome by us and our companies, at a time when risk capital for technology entrepreneurs is scarce,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners/SEP.

“Startups, newly established and growing small businesses like Novetas now have a new SBA-backed source of financing,” said Bean. “ILP is an important new tool to support businesses in underserved markets.”

For more information, or to request interviews or photos, please contact SBA Regional Communications Director Rob Goza at 610-382-3088 or robert.goza@sba.gov.

About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning model for technology innovation, and a catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential.  For more than 28 years, we have invested in innovative enterprises and created commercialization pathways and partnerships that generate wealth through science and technology.  We offer entrepreneurs and established businesses the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace.  We have invested more than $155 million to grow more than 1,750 regional enterprises across all areas of technology.

Ben Franklin’s programs and partnerships with universities, corporations and investors strengthen the region’s innovation infrastructure.  Together with partners across the region, we are fostering the formation of a Greater Philadelphia energy cluster…Power Valley.  We are the commercialization partner for the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC) national energy hub, and the founding partner of the Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI). We are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute (NTI), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and numerous other programs and initiatives.

Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership.

For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.

BFTP/SEP Contact:

Jaron J. Rhodes
Manager, Marketing and Communications
(215) 972-6700, ext. 3214
jaron@sep.benfranklin.org

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), testified yesterday at an informational meeting of the Pennsylvania House Commerce Committee in support of House Bill 1616 for Benefit Corporation Legislation. A Benefit Corporation, or B Corp, is a new class of corporation that enables a corporation to consider societal impact in addition to shareholder value in their strategies.

Rosenthal states that “The proposed B Corp legislation is an example of government action in support of a form of hybrid enterprise that advances the concepts of shared value.”  In particular, she spoke on behalf of an amendment to the proposed legislation that, “in the definition of “specific public benefit”, recognizes initiatives and partnerships that increase access to capital for emerging and growing technology enterprises, facilitate the transfer and adoption of new technologies, and provide technical and business support to these enterprises.”

She spoke to the importance of encouraging the private sector to engage in new ways to build and strengthen our communities through investments and support of science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in light of continued state budget challenges and cutbacks in funding for these purposes. “…funding for the [Ben Franklin] Partnership has been reduced in recent years, a result of state budget deficits…Fewer dollars means fewer new enterprises, fewer new jobs and fewer tax revenues…creating a downward economic spiral” said Rosenthal.  She also cited the recent Kauffman Institute “State of Entrepreneurship” report that addresses the impact of the downturn in entrepreneurship on society.

To read Rosenthal’s full written testimony, click here.

To read House Bill 1616, click here.

About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning model for technology innovation, and a catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential.  For more than 28 years, we have invested in innovative enterprises and created commercialization pathways and partnerships that generate wealth through science and technology.  We offer entrepreneurs and established businesses the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace.  We have invested more than $155 million to grow more than 1,750 regional enterprises across all areas of technology.

Ben Franklin’s programs and partnerships with universities, corporations and investors strengthen the region’s innovation infrastructure.  Together with partners across the region, we are fostering the formation of a Greater Philadelphia energy cluster…Power Valley.  We are the commercialization partner for the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC) national energy hub, and the founding partner of the Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI). We are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute (NTI), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and numerous other programs and initiatives.

Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership.

For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.

BFTP/SEP Contact:

Jaron J. Rhodes
Manager, Marketing and Communications
(215) 972-6700, ext. 3214
jaron@sep.benfranklin.org

Click here to download the profile (PDF)

Peter Key, February 3, 2012

From the start of 2007 through the third quarter of last year, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania participated in 38 percent of the rounds of venture capital raised by companies in the five-county Philadelphia area that were classified as early-stage or seed/startup investments in the MoneyTree reports issued over the period.

That was the finding most emphasized by the state-funded economic-development organization in a report it issued today on its performance over the past five years. The report, “Performance Profile, 2007-2011: Five Years of Success,” is available on Ben Franklin’s website (http://www.sep.benfranklin.org).

“We were happy with that,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, Ben Franklin’s president and CEO.

If Ben Franklin had compiled its report after the MoneyTree report for the fourth quarter came out, the figure would have been even higher. The organization said earlier this week that it took part in 61 percent of all the venture-capital rounds classified as early-stage or seed/startup investments by the MoneyTree report, which is put out by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters. Ben Franklin said it took part in 42 percent of all the investments listed in the MoneyTree in the quarter.

Ben Franklin compiled its report to show how well it achieved the objectives it laid out in its five-year plan for 2007-2011, “Six Objectives for the Next Five Years,” which also is available on its website.

Only two of the objectives were quantitative ­— and Ben Franklin attained both.

The organization said it would invest at least $25 million in the region’s early-stage technology and life-sciences companies. In its recent report, Ben Franklin said it invested $30 million in more than 200 companies. That’s what enabled it to participate in nearly 40 percent of the seed and early-stage rounds of venture capital raised by area businesses over the past five years.

The organization also said it would commit $5 million to seed an investment pool meant to attract money from private sources to make follow-on investments in its companies. It committed $5 million to Emerald Stage2 Ventures, which ultimately wound up raising $13.5 million.

None of the remaining objectives were quantitatively measurable, but the least subjective was to partner with the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.    to create a natural laboratory for technology-commercialization efforts at The Navy Yard in South Philadelphia.

Ben Franklin moved to The Navy Yard and helped put together a consortium of universities, economic-development organizations and businesses led by Pennsylvania State University that was awarded $160 million in federal and state funds to turn The Navy Yard into a hub for the development and deployment of energy-efficient building technology called the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings.

Ben Franklin says its investing has produced economic results. Over the past five years, companies in its portfolio have retained or created 1,400 high-tech jobs. They also have received $850 million in follow-on funding, an indication that other investors think the companies it invests in have a good chance of succeeding.

Robin Hood Ventures certainly does. Of the 25 companies currently in the portfolio of the Philadelphia-based angel group, 16 have received investments from Ben Franklin, according to its executive director, Ellen Weber.

“Ben Franklin is a critical part of the startup ecosystem,” Weber said in an email. “Not only have they participated in a large portion of the early-stage funding rounds in the area, but they also provide companies with access to angel and VC groups during and after the funding process. They work closely with the angel community to make opportunities known to us, and in many cases, share their due diligence which can speed up our funding process.”

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2012/02/03/ben-franklin-participated-in-38-of.html?page=all

Click here to download the NTI Annual Report (PDF)

John George, February 3, 2012

HORSHAM — Topaz Pharmaceuticals was quietly acquired late last year by Sanofi Pasteur a few months before a decision was expected on the Montgomery County biopharmaceutical company’s new drug application for its experimental head lice treatment.

That ruling from the Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to occur next week.

Sanofi Pasteur in Lyons, France, is the vaccines division of the Paris-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis.

The financial terms of the sale of Topaz to Sanofi Pasteur are being kept confidential.

“The acquisition of Topaz provided an immediate opportunity to grow our business,” said Kenneth P. Guito, a 20-year Sanofi executive who was installed as general manager of what is now operating as Sanofi-Topaz in Horsham.

Guito noted Sanofi Pasteur is the world’s largest vaccine maker and it has a “significant” presence in the pediatric- and adolescent-care markets. He described as a “great fit” Topaz’s experimental lice treatment, which is aimed at the estimated 6 million to 12 million people — mostly schoolchildren — affected by lice each year in the United States.

Lice are parasitic insects that can live in the hair and scalp of humans and easily spread from person-to-person through direct contact.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue its decision Feb. 7 on Sanofi-Topaz’s new drug application for its topical cream containing ivermectin to treat head lice.

Guito said the company has engaged in ongoing conversations with the FDA about a couple of remaining issues with the application.

“We feel pretty positive about the state of the review at this point,” he said.

Topaz was founded in 2005 by former Merck & Co. Inc. executives Nicholas Spring and Donald P. Beeman to develop a lice treatment derived from a naturally occurring soil organism.

Its investors included venture capital firms Aisling Capital and Fidelity Biosciences, which led Topaz’s $20 million series A financing in 2007.

The company’s topical cream is a reformulation of ivermectin, an existing product, now off-patent, administered as a pill or an injection to combat parasites in livestock and in humans.

The ivermectin cream was developed as an alternative to existing prescription drugs for lice that work on the insect’s nervous system and cause them to become paralyzed. The use of those products, according to Topaz officials, are limited because of safety, efficacy and convenience issues and some carry side effects such as skin irritation.

Topaz’s cream kills the lice by impeding their ability to breathe. The invermectin binds selectively to certain ion channels associated with breathing that are present in invertebrate nerve and muscle cells, but not present in mammals.

Spring, the company’s first CEO and board member prior to the Sanofi-Pasteur deal, confirmed the company was sold in November. He too declined to comment on the purchase price, but said the sale resulted in “very significant returns for all of the investors.”

Read More: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2012/02/03/topaz-bought-by-sanofi-unit-for-lice.html?page=all

Diane Mastrull, January 30, 2012

Perhaps you were motivated by rebates or other federal stimulus incentives. Or by your budget-busting energy bills.

Whatever the reason, to those who spent a small fortune in recent years replacing home windows, you have the sympathies of a couple of Malvern chemical engineers.

Jay Reyher and John Siegel, along with a Wisconsin partner, Thomas Culp, have put their scientific minds together to create an alternative to replacement windows that is more cost-effective yet proven to be as energy efficient as new, Energy Star units.

Their company, Quanta Technologies Inc., has developed a storm window made with a low-emissivity (low-e) glaze to control heat transfer that has impressed the U.S. Department of Energy; the head of Pennsylvania’s energy-conservation program; and the Mark Group Inc., a fast-growing weatherization contractor in Philadelphia that is partnering with Quanta on the sale and installation of its panels.

Equally significant for a start-up, Quanta, founded in April 2009, has secured more than $1.8 million in federal and state investments to broaden its product line for use in different climates.

While there are other manufacturers of low-e storm windows, QuantaPanel’s creators say their product’s uniqueness, in part, is the glass-coating technology that maximizes insulating performance while optimizing passive solar gain, and the enhanced air-sealing qualities of its frame and sash system.

“These are smart people that are, I think, onto something special,” said E. Craig Heim, executive director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Energy Conservation and Weatherization.

That is not likely to trigger rejoicing among manufacturers and retailers of full window units, who are already experiencing sales drops since the tax credits for new windows expired Dec. 31. Quanta officials say they are not out to make life miserable for the replacement-window industry, but to serve a segment of the population that cannot afford new windows – or does not need them – but could benefit from improved performance by the windows they have.

“We saw the opportunity to fill this commercialization gap,” Siegel, Quanta’s chief operating officer, said last week, at the company’s factory near Lancaster.

Quanta bought the assets of a Chicago-area window-manufacturing company that was going out of business, and, in July 2010, began moving the equipment into 50,000 square feet of what had been an RCA television-tube factory just outside downtown Lancaster. Timing could not have been better.

Studies by the federal Energy Department showed enough energy savings from low-e storm window retrofits to enable them to pay for themselves within five years. Consequently, Pennsylvania added them to its Weatherization Assistance Program priority list – recommended energy-savings actions – in the fall of 2010, about the same time Quanta introduced its first commercial product.

It was that federally funded weatherization program, which provides retrofits to low-income homes, that Quanta first set out to serve. Its QuantaPanel 500 series, a low-e storm window that attaches to the exterior of existing single-pane or double-pane clear-glass windows, cost typically less than one-fifth the installed cost of an Energy Star replacement window, according to Quanta officials.

In this region, the QuantaPanel is expected to reduce heating and cooling costs on a single-family residence by 15 percent to 30 percent, which could amount to about one-sixth of a home’s total utility bill, said Reyher, Quanta’s chief executive officer.

Last year, Quanta launched a product line designed for interior installation, targeted for multifamily buildings, as well as light commercial and historic properties. All window units are custom-made.

Quanta’s game plan sounded promising from the time Reyher and Siegel approached the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania for funding in 2009, officials there said.

“To find a technology that basically can do what a window upgrade would do but at a substantially lower cost I found very intriguing,” said Mark deGrandpre, director of investments in the physical-sciences area. Ben Franklin has issued Quanta two grants totaling $500,000.

From the U.S. Department of Energy, Quanta received $853,962 in stimulus funds in June 2010. In essence, Quanta was a dream come true, suggested P. Marc LaFrance, technology-development manager.

“We’ve been trying to get companies interested in developing and promoting low-e storm windows for a long time,” LaFrance said. “Having a company interested in making this their sole business model was very interesting to us.”

By the time Jeff Bartos joined the England-based Mark Group in August 2010 as president and chief executive of its U.S. affiliate, the company was already intrigued by what Quanta was selling. He was soon sold.

If a homeowner “is already spending resources, time, and dollars to insulate walls, you should insulate your glass as well,” Bartos said, adding that a typical Mark Group installation of a Quanta panel costs $225 to $250.

Not that a storm window is the answer for everybody. Quanta’s founders are the first to say that if, for instance, your window frames are rotting out, buy new ones.

That still leaves plenty of potential for low-e storm windows, Reyher said. By some estimates, 43 percent of all residential windows in this country are single-pane glass. Assuming that Mid-Atlantic winters do not remain balmy and natural gas prices start inching up, Reyher foresees a potential market for low-e storm windows of nearly $1 billion, and Quanta sales reaching $100 million. They currently are under $2 million. Its workforce of 12 is expected to expand to 60 within a year, Reyher said.

Read More: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/138302604.html#ixzz1ky4XGgKe

The Report also indicates that Ben Franklin accounted for 42% of all deals reported for the region.

Over the past five years, Ben Franklin committed more than $30M to more than 200 regional enterprises across all areas of technology development.  Among these companies are AboutOne, AnySource Media, BioNano Genomics, Clear Align, ListenLogic, Moda Technology Partners, Monetate, Neat Company, NuPathe, OxiCool, QR Pharma, Snipi, TicketLeap, Topaz Pharmaceuticals and Viridity Energy.

“This report, again, underscores the importance of the Commonwealth’s support for seeding the enterprises that will be future job generators,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin. “Despite the persistence of one of the most difficult economic environments we’ve experienced, quality enterprises are choosing to start here, in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Together with private investors, we have to do what we can to provide the critical startup capital and coaching that can help accelerate their success,” she added.

For full analysis of the MoneyTree report, including a list of deals, please visit: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2012/01/20/venture-capital-recovery-in.html?page=3

About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning model for technology innovation, and a catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential.  For more than 28 years, we have invested in innovative enterprises and created commercialization pathways and partnerships that generate wealth through science and technology.  We offer entrepreneurs and established businesses the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace.  We have invested more than $155 million to grow more than 1,750 regional enterprises across all areas of technology.

Ben Franklin’s programs and partnerships with universities, corporations and investors strengthen the region’s innovation infrastructure.  Together with partners across the region, we are fostering the formation of a Greater Philadelphia energy cluster…Power Valley.  We are the commercialization partner for the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC) national energy hub, and the founding partner of the Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI). We are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute (NTI), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and numerous other programs and initiatives.

Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership.

For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.

BFTP/SEP Contact:

Jaron J. Rhodes
Manager, Marketing and Communications
(215) 972-6700, ext. 3214
jaron@sep.benfranklin.org

• Zibelman’s Viridity Energy grows to 56 employees, $24M in VC [BFTP/SEP portfolio company]
• Malvern engineers marketing high-tech storm windows
  [Quanta Technologies Inc., BFTP/SEP portfolio company]

• BASF invests $30 million in King of Prussia’s Renmatix
• PURICORE PLC : PuriCore Raises $3.5 Million [Malvern, PA]
• AlumiFuel Power Updates New Initiatives [Philadelphia]
• Brand identity on the way for Phila. Energy Innovation Hub
• Dark Times Fall on Solar Sector
• U.S. Tops 2011 Clean Energy Investments: Report
• Venture Capital Funding For Smart Grid Dropped Last Year
• Industry to Tap National Labs in DOE Initiative to Cut Red Tape [Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT) initiative]
• EIA issues AEO2012 Early Release [Annual Energy Outlook]
• Deadline Approaching for Small Business Innovation Research Opportunity [DOE]

In The News

Zibelman’s Viridity Energy grows to 56 employees, $24M in VC

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

BusinessWeek gets to know Audrey Zibelman, founder of Viridity Energy, the Philadelphia startup that is making software to help large facilities manage their energy.

Viridity installs software that works with a building’s energy systems to monitor and control heating and cooling, appliances, generators, and more. The software constantly checks the variables that affect how much a facility pays for energy. This includes the price of electricity, which for wholesale buyers like factories can change every few minutes. The software also takes into account weather forecasts, which could cause price spikes, and how much it costs a building to produce its own energy. Viridity then tweaks electricity use to minimize costs. At Drexel University in Philadelphia, a Viridity client, the software knows that certain rooms are better insulated than others. When electricity prices rise, it automatically reduces heat in the law library, where the books trap a lot of warmth. Drexel could make money during those hours by selling electricity from its diesel generators to the grid.

Original source: BusinessWeek

Read the full story here.

Source: http://www.flyingkitemedia.com

Malvern engineers marketing high-tech storm windows

Philadelphia Inquirer? – Jan. 30, 2012 | Diane Mastrull, Inquirer Staff Writer

Quanta Technologies Inc., has developed a storm window made with a low-emissivity (low-e) glaze to control heat transfer that has impressed the U.S. Department of Energy; the head of Pennsylvania’s energy-conservation program; and the Mark Group Inc., a fast-growing weatherization contractor in Philadelphia that is partnering with Quanta on the sale and installation of its panels.

Quanta’s game plan sounded promising from the time Reyher and Siegel approached the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania for funding in 2009, officials there said.

“To find a technology that basically can do what a window upgrade would do but at a substantially lower cost I found very intriguing,” said Mark deGrandpre, director of investments in the physical-sciences area. Ben Franklin has issued Quanta two grants totaling $500,000.

Read more:

http://www.philly.com/ philly/business/ homepage/20120130_Diane_Mastrull__Malvern_engineers_marketing_high-tech_storm_windows.html#ixzz1kxXjeIjg

BASF invests $30 million in King of Prussia’s Renmatix?

Philadelphia Inquirer – January 04, 2012|By Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer

The German chemical giant BASF has invested $30 million in Renmatix Inc., a King of Prussia early-stage company that produces industrial sugars from wood and other nonfood plant materials that can be used to make chemicals, the companies said Tuesday.

Renmatix, also backed by John Doerr of the Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, moved its headquarters to Montgomery County from Georgia last summer.

PURICORE PLC : PuriCore Raises $3.5 Million

4-traders

January 2012 – PuriCore (LSE: PURI), the water- based clean technology company focused on developing and commercialising proprietary, green solutions that safely, effectively, and naturally kill infectious pathogens, announces that it closed on a new $3.5 million debt facility with Republic Bank on 29 December 2011. … PuriCore is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, …

AlumiFuel Power Updates New Initiatives

MarketWatch

PHILADELPHIA, PA, Jan 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — New Emerging Relationships With Major Industry Players Provide Access to Billion Dollar Portable, Back-Up Power and Vehicular Markets — Early production stage hydrogen generation company AlumiFuel Power, Inc. (“API”), the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based wholly owned operating subsidiary of AlumiFuel Power Corporation /quotes/zigman/558920 AFPW -7.69% (the “Company”), today announced several important developments involving its operations heading into the new year.

Brand identity on the way for Phila. Energy Innovation Hub

Philadelphia Business Journal – Tuesday, January 10, 2012 – Peter Key
LevLane said Tuesday it has been selected to be the branding agency of record for the Department of Energy’s Energy Innovation Hub at The Navy Yard in South Philadelphia.

Dark Times Fall on Solar Sector

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | Technology, Tuesday, December 27, 2011

By YULIYA CHERNOVA

Long viewed as a remedy for the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, the solar industry is dimming as makers of panels used to harness the sun continue to fall by the wayside.

Read more:

http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB10001424052970204552304577117140511996840.html#ixzz1j9p17Ojc

U.S. Tops 2011 Clean Energy Investments: Report

The United States topped China for the first time since 2008 as global clean energy investment reached a new record of $260 billion in 2011, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The analysis company reported on January 12 that the total was up 5% over 2010, as solar spending outpaced investments in wind.

Last year’s highlights include the United States retaking first place, with total investment surging to nearly $56 billion, up 33%; China saw investment rise just 1% to $47 billion. The report noted that a major portion of the U.S. increase was due to the now expired federal loan progam, and that another contributor, the production tax credit for renewables, is set to expire at the end of 2012.

Overall, solar technology investments surged 36% to almost $137 billion. This nearly doubled the $75 billion spent on wind power, which was down 17%. Other categories surveyed included energy-smart technologies, including smart grid, power storage, efficiency and advanced transport. The report also tallied smaller renewable energy sectors: biofuels saw total investment edge up from $8.6 to $9 billion; biomass and waste-to-energy dropped 18% to about $11 billion; geothermal slipped from $3.2 to $2.8 billion; and small hydropower fell 25% to $3 billion.

See the Bloomberg New Energy Finance press release.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Angel and Venture Capital

Venture Capital Funding For Smart Grid Dropped Last Year

Venture capital (VC) funding for the smart grid sector in 2011 was “anemic,” according to the annual and fourth quarter merger and acquisition (M&A) and funding activity for the smart grid sector for 2011 released Mercom Capital Group, LLC. The average VC funding round dropped by 50 percent in 2011 to $7.5 million compared to almost $15 million in 2010. VC funding in 2011 brought $377 million in 50 deals (24 disclosed) compared to $769M in 51 deals in 2010 (27 disclosed).

Mercom blames the drop in VC funding on “current economic conditions and uncertainty along with a lack of clear direction in the Smart Grid sector is plainly evident based on the depressed funding activity so far this year.”

Source: NASVF NetNews

Industry to Tap National Labs in DOE Initiative to Cut Red Tape

DOE announced on December 8 a new pilot initiative to reduce hurdles that prevent innovative companies from working with the DOE’s national laboratories. The new Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT) initiative will help businesses bring job-creating technologies to the market more quickly by allowing them to work with laboratories from start to finish developing and delivering new clean energy technologies and other innovations. In January, DOE will announce the laboratories selected to participate in the pilot.
The ACT initiative will remove barriers for businesses and startup companies interested in accessing the research, facilities, and scientists available at the national laboratories, catapulting innovative new products to the marketplace.

See the DOE press release and a list of frequently asked questions on the ACT initiative.

January 23, 2012

EIA issues AEO2012 Early Release

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, AEO2012 Early Release.

Today, EIA issued the 2012 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2012) Early Release Reference case, which provides updated projections for U.S. energy markets through 2035.

In addition to a press release and tables that summarize the new projection, an Overview report is provided that addresses key findings and major changes in assumptions and results from the previous year’s projection.

The Early Release Overview specifically highlights the Reference case, which assumes no changes in current laws and regulations, thus serving as a starting point for analysis of potential policy changes or technology breakthroughs.

Deadline Approaching for Small Business Innovation Research Opportunity

January 19, 2012

The application deadline is nearing for phase I funding for the Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, which help small businesses develop technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2012 at11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Full story

Marcella Peyre-Ferry, January 22, 2012

Headquartered in Glen Mills with a manufacturing facility in Newark, Del., Holganix was started just two years ago.

“As a company overall we’re in a growth stage,” Holganix CFO Paul Commons explained.

Currently there are a total of 13 employees with Holganix but additional funding from The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is helping the company grow.

The Holganix product is a cost-efficient, natural way to get thick, green, healthy lawns and trees while reducing the use of fertilizers by as much as 90 percent.

Instead of chemicals, it uses natural microorganisms that turn a small amount of fertilizer into more effective lawn and tree treatments.

In addition, Holganix eliminates the pesticides, nitrates and phosphates typically found in such fertilizers.

Using Holganix can lower fertilizer costs and reduce your environmental footprint without sacrificing great results. Holganix’s holistic, organic approach leads to greener plants and bluer water than other products, the company said.

Ben Franklin previously invested $250,000 in Holganix, and is helping again with another $200,000.

At this point funding is needed for sales and marketing efforts as well as additional research. The Ben Franklin investment will be particularly useful in funding third-party validations where an independent facility is retained to run tests comparing similar competing products.

The results will be used to help promote Holganix products.

“We have a reputable school like Penn State validate our product,” Commons said. “It’s like any new technology, it’s changing the way people think. There’s a lot of skepticism up front.”

Holganix does not retail its products, instead concentrating on sales to distributors and professional lawn care operations.

“Our target market is not organic fertilizer users, it is the chemical fertilizer users,” Commons said.

Geographically, the firm is focusing on markets east of the Mississippi.

Word of mouth has been the primary promotional method for Holganix to date, including a surprising interest from the Amish farming community in the area as an organic fertilizer.

The results of using Holganix products can be seen on athletic fields at Villanova, St. Joseph’s and Widener universities as well as local Wawa sites.

Holganix products fit in well with the other Ben Franklin investments as it not only is an all-organic product made from plant-based materials, but it is also produced with no petroleum or gas by-products.

“It’s just a wonderful solution,” Commons said.

The investment in Holganix by Ben Franklin provides more than just money. “Ben Franklin has been extremely helpful for us,” Commons said. “They have introduced us to larger companies that may be interested in our product. It’s more than just money.”

Ben Franklin is a national catalyst for stimulating entrepreneurial potential. For over 28 years, it has invested in entrepreneurs in the fields of science and technology. It offers established businesses the capital, knowledge and networks to compete in the global marketplace.

Ben Franklin recently approved $1.7 million for 11 early-stage companies in biotechnology, mobile technology and advanced manufacturing, including Holganix.

Read More: http://dailylocal.com/articles/2012/01/22/news/srv0000016908838.txt?viewmode=fullstory