Posted on 01/26/2010 11:09:35 AM PST by Titus-Maximus
FloDesign Wind Turbine, a maker of wind turbines that resemble jet engines, pulled in a $34.5 million second round of funding.
The venture capital infusion was led by return backer Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers and had participation from new investors Technology Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners, and a Goldman Sachs managed investment fund.
FloDesign also announced on Wednesday that it named Lars Andersen its new chief executive. Mr. Andersen takes the position from Stanley Kowalski, who will continue as vice president.
Mr. Andersen was previously president of the China operations of Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines.
Mr. Andersen’s job will be to manage FloDesign’s transition from “a research and development organization to a leading renewable energy manufacturing company,” the company said a statement.
The new round of funding follows an $8.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency last fall as well as the cashing in of $6 million from the sale of series A stock in August.
Although the Wilbraham, Massachusetts, company is new at making wind turbines, it has been providing specialized equipment for the aerospace industry and government agencies since 1990. Other FloDesign products include acoustic weapons, noise suppression devices, fluid ejectors, and forced mixers.
Although FloDesign remains secretive about its wind-turbine design, its early models that feature tube enclosures make them more efficient at extracting energy from wind than conventional open-fan turbines.
BTW - very neat turbine design. Seems very smart, too bad wind power doesn't work, ask yourself why did the transportation industry got out of it 150 years ago. You don't see clipper ships delivering goods and commodities any more? The reason - because it stinks, unreliable, expensive and not storable. It also does not come in the summer when you most need it.
Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RagPPrHUMTY
Faster blades means more dead birds.
Which means more whining from the Gaians.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.