Take a look inside Earth’s ‘greenest building’

bullittcenter1

It is being called the “greenest building” on the planet. And it’s located right here in Seattle. Welcome to the Bullitt Center, a new six-story, 50,000-square-foot building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that is designed to produce more energy than it consumes. Or, as the developer describes it, the building essentially works as its own… Read More…

Seattle cloud startup Scope 5 raises $500,000 to track sustainability data

scope5-logo

Seattle startup Scope 5 has scooped up $500,000 in angel financing, money that it will use to build out its cloud-based service for tracking sustainability data. Funding was provided in part by the Northwest Energy Angels. “Increasingly companies are connecting the social value of emissions reductions with the business value of reduced costs,” said Scope… Read More…

Fuel cell maker ReliOn nabs investment from Cummins

relion-logo

ReliOn, a hydrogen fuel cell maker whose products are used for backup power systems, has received an investment from engine maker Cummins. The size of the investment was not disclosed, but ReliOn CEO Gary Flood said the investment would help the company with global expansion. “Cummins is committed to assist ReliOn toward increasing our market… Read More…

Energy storage upstart EnerG2 scores new cash

energ2

EnerG2, a manufacturer of carbon materials which are used in next-generation energy storage systems such as lead acid batteries, ultracapacitors and lithium ion batteries, has raised $9.3 million in financing, according to a SEC filing. “Our investors have seen the successful transition EnerG2 has made from its roots as an energy storage R&D company to… Read More…

Commentary: Strategies for accelerating clean tech startups

wind-power1

Recently, the Northwest Energy Angels convened a breakfast briefing on cleantech investing, and I had the honor of moderating a panel headlined by Clean Tech Nation author and Clean Edge managing director Ron Pernick; Kirk Washington, a Partner at Yaletown Venture Partners; and Susan Preston, General Partner for the CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund. As… Read More…

Q&A: Former Microsoft exec Brian Arbogast on why he’s betting big on clean tech

Brian Arbogast

Brian Arbogast cut his teeth in the software business, spending more than two decades at Microsoft. But now the former software exec has something much bigger on his plate: Helping to save the planet. A board member at the Northwest Energy Angels, Arbogast is among the leading clean tech angel investors in the region. Once… Read More…

Powerit fuels up with new cash infusion, looks to cut energy bills for big industrial clients

klustner2

Powerit Solutions, a 10-year-old Seattle company that helps large industrial customers reduce energy costs, has raised $2.5 million in fresh funding that it will use to embed its software in the industrial automation, utility, and smart grid infrastructure. The cash infusion also will help the company expand in Europe, and launch its Spara cloud platform next… Read More…

Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla and Peter Thiel bankroll energy storage startup LightSail

Bill Gates

LightSail Energy, a Berkeley, California-based company that’s designing systems to store energy generated by wind and solar power, has landed $37.3 million in financing from a group of investors that includes Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. The company is led by 25-year-old Chief Scientist Danielle Fong, who… Read More…

TerraPower nuclear engineer emerges at stealthy energy startup SuperCritical Technologies

supercritical1

Chal Davidson, the former lead engineer at TerraPower, the nuclear reactor startup backed by Intellectual Ventures and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has emerged at the helm of a new startup company by the name of SuperCritical Technologies. According to a description on Davidson’s LinkedIn page, SuperCritical is setting out to build modular, compact power plants… Read More…

Homes made out of milk bottles; networked water purifiers and other winners from the Clean Tech Open

Team GR Green at the NW Clean Tech Open finals in Portland.

Sixteen cleantech startups from around the Northwest gathered in Portland this week to learn which lucky three would represent the Pacific Northwest in the national Cleantech Open business competition in November. The Cleantech Open Tuesday night named the three startups that will move on to compete with other North American teams at the Cleantech Open… Read More…