Our companies attract major attention and funding

Tendril As an acknowledged international hub for cleantech entrepreneurship and innovation, Colorado is an obvious focus for significant cleantech investment.

A 2009 report by Pew Charitable Trusts placed Colorado at No. 5 in the United States for venture capital secured by cleantech companies between 2006 and 2008. Overall, Colorado ranks highly for patent activity and creating new companies.

Cleantech companies securing major venture capital or public/private investment infusions:

  • Proterra, Inc., a leading manufacturer of advanced technology heavy duty vehicles that are powered solely by clean domestic fuels headquartered in Golden, received $37.7 million in later-stage funding (2011).
  • Boulder Wind Power raised $8 million in Series A Preferred Stock financing to complete development, testing and commercialization of its next generation direct drive technology which is simpler, more efficient, and less costly to maintain than alternative wind turbine technologies (2011).
  • Ice Energy, the leading provider of smart grid-enabled, distributed energy storage to the utility industry, closed on $24 million in Series C funding to support its deployment of utility-scale distributed energy storage projects throughout the United States and Canada (2010).
  • Ciris Energy, a developer of coal gasification technologies located in Centennial, received $23.9 million in series B funding (2011) and $4 million in early-stage funding (2010).
  • Coolerado Corporation, a manufacturer of innovative air conditioning systems that use as little as 10 percent of the energy required by the most efficient conventional systems, received $7.2 million in funding (2010).
  • Abound Solar, a thin-film solar manufacturer with operations in Loveland, Longmont, and Fort Collins, closed on a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund the expansion of the company’s manufacturing capacity. The company raised an additional $110 million in equity financing, bringing Abound Solar’s equity financing to approximately $260 million since the company’s inception (2010).
  • UQM, based in Frederick, received $45 million in federal stimulus money to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles, batteries, and components in the United States (2009).
  • Tendril, a Boulder-based manufacturer of smart grid software, received $30 million (2009).
  • Gevo, a developer of alternative fuels located in Englewood, received $40 million (2009).
  • Abound Solar (formerly AVA Solar), a thin-film solar manufacturer with operations in Loveland, Longmont, and Fort Collins, received $104 million (2008).
  • Range Fuels, a Broomfield producer of low-carbon biofuels, raised more than $100 million in Series B financing (2008).
  • Solix Biofuels, headquartered in Fort Collins, received $16.9 million in Series A funding (2008).
  • Ice Energy, a developer of utility-scale distributed energy resource and storage technologies located in Windsor, received $33 million in financing (2008).
  • Infinite Power Solutions, Inc., a developer of solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film batteries, received $13 million in Series B funding (2008).