Lora Kolodny is a technology journalist. As of 2012 she works as a reporter for Dow Jones covering startups and venture capital. Her writing is also syndicated to the Dow Jones owned Wall Street Journal.
Lora began reporting on business, technology and entertainment in 2002. She has worked as greentech writer and editor at TechCrunch, and as a staff reporter for Inc. magazine and The Hollywood Reporter. Her New York Times blog, “The Prize,” covered the winners, losers, innovation and deal-making of business competitions.
At the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing today, Power Assure — a green IT business from Santa Clara, Calif. — revealed that its energy management software is now compatible with Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) Blade servers.
According to Jed Scaramella, a research manager for servers at IDC, here’s how fast blade servers, in general, are gaining traction in the market:
In 2010, the… → Read More
A Boston-based, cleantech startup Digital Lumens closed a $10 million series B investment, the company announced today, that will allow it to bring its LED-based, intelligent lighting systems to warehouses and industrial facilities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico near term. The company’s earlier backers all participated in the series B, including: Black Coral Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners… → Read More
Developers of large-scale, solar power plants BrightSource Energy Inc. closed another $168 million investment, the company announced today — this time from Google corporate. The funds will go towards the completion of the humongous, Ivanpah solar power tower plant in the Mojave Desert now under construction.
Three years ago, Google.org invested $10 million, and took an equity stake in… → Read More
The number of American businesses with formal green programs in place increased 54 percent last year according to new research from Buck Consultants (a subsidiary of Xerox). Of about 120 businesses surveyed — including hardware and other technology firms, government offices, consultancies, non-profits, hospitals, and the makers of consumer packaged goods — 69 percent said they took deliberate… → Read More
Coulomb Technologies — a Campbell, Calif. company that makes electric vehicle charging stations, related apps and network technology — today revealed new features and certifications that should help the company grow its business in European markets, and prepare for the Nissan LEAF to hit the streets.
One new feature of the company’s ChargePoint network allows Coulomb’s charging stations to… → Read More
The New York-based Pipeline Fund, which aims to increase the number of women who become angel investors and social entrepreneurs in the U.S., today announced its inaugural class of Pipeline Fund Fellows and mentors (listed at the end of this post).
The Pipeline Fund Fellowship accepted ten women who are influencers in their fields, and have a track record of charitable giving. Together, they will… → Read More
A Portland area startup selling patented systems that turn plastic trash into synthetic crude oil, Agilyx, closed a $22 million series B round, the company revealed on Thursday. The systems (image below) look like the kind of equipment you’d see in a brewery.
Here’s how they work, according to the company website: Plastic feedstock, a mix of everything from grocery bags to vehicle dashboards and… → Read More
A newly released Android app, Nuclear WatchDawg, reveals where nuclear power plants and associated safety and environmental concerns are within a fifty mile radius anywhere in the U.S.
NuclearWatchDawg aggregates data from some 30 sources, mostly government and academic research labs whose research is in the public domain. Lee Guthman, who develops new apps and ventures for the GVW Group in… → Read More
More and more businesses are using social media — from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to Tumblr and Foursquare, more recently — to manage customer relationships, market, sell or even directly conduct their business transactions. With the maturation of the technology and business practices comes regulation from government agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Financial… → Read More
An organization that aims to diversify and strengthen the pool of successful startup founders in tech, Women 2.0, today announced that it will spin out its mobile focused Founder Labs pre-incubator program as a standalone entity, and expand it from San Francisco to New York City this May.
Women 2.0 and Founder Labs founder, Shaherose Charania, told TechCrunch:
“We want to change the ‘founder… → Read More
One Block Off The Grid (1BOG) is motivating homeowners to go solar by arranging and promoting group discounts for panels and installation services, especially in areas of the U.S. where the cost of electricity from traditional energy sources is on the rise.
In its latest such deal, 1BOG arranged a 15 percent discount via panel manufacturers Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CISQ) and East Coast installers… → Read More
According to a Friday SEC filing, VIA Motors closed a $5.3 million series A investment in a deal that involved 44 angel, and friends-and-family investors. The filing reflects the potential for the company to take an additional $5 million. Carl E. Berg, a serial real estate entrepreneur and investor in electric vehicle technology, participated in the new round, and remains VIA Motors’ principal… → Read More
CoolPlanetBiofuels — a company that converts grass, woodchips, and other non-food crops and farm residue into high-grade fuel — attracted a series B investment From Google Ventures, the companies revealed Thursday.
Based in Camarillo, Calif. CoolPlanet claims its biofuel products are not just net zero, but “negative carbon fuels,” because the byproducts from making and using them can… → Read More
Zero Motorcycles in Santa Cruz, Calif. today revealed that Invus, LP, the company’s earliest financial backers, have invested another $17 million in the business, with potential to add $9 million more over coming months.
The capital will go towards expanding the Zero’s U.S. operations, primarily, and towards expanding the company’s global sales efforts, research and development, according to a… → Read More
A competition designed to accelerate innovation in water technology, Imagine H2O, chose a winner last night in San Francisco for its Water-Energy Nexus Prize: Hydrovolts.
The Seattle startup makes small-scale hydropower turbines. They can be used to harness energy from the flow of water in canals. Unlike hydropower turbines in rivers or the ocean, Hydrovolts turbines take advantage of already… → Read More
Harvest Power, a producer of renewable energy from organic waste, attained $51.7 million series B financing, in a round led by Generation Investment Management, the companies announced today.
The London-based fund was started by Nobel prize winner Al Gore and the former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, David Blood. DAG Ventures and Keating Capital also invested alongside Harvest Power’s… → Read More
Today, the United States Marine Corps completed its largest solar installation to date — a 1.4 megawatt ground-mounted system — that will generate electricity for Base Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego, Calif. The system was installed atop an inactive landfill.
According to a press statement from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest: the installation should… → Read More
A massive earthquake that struck off Japan’s northeastern coast on Friday— taking 1,200 lives, with thousands still unaccounted for and ten thousand feared dead by police — also damaged multiple nuclear power plants there.
On Sunday, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a partial meltdown at the Fukushiman Dai-ichi nuclear complex, was likely under way. The partial meltdown… → Read More
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced an upgrade to its Energy Star requirements for televisions, and cable and satellite boxes. According to a press statement from the agency: Effective in September 2011, these products must be 40 percent more efficient than conventional models in order to win the Energy Star label. Energy Star expects to update 20-some other… → Read More
A Boston startup that makes energy auditing software for the commercial buildings industry, Retroficiency, raised $800,000 in a seed round led by energy management services firm World Energy Solutions (NASDAQ: XWES), and joined by a number of angel investors including Jean Hammond and Jill Preotle (both early investors in ZipCar) the companies announced today.
Facility managers, auditors or… → Read More
Coca-Cola (nyse: KO) announced plans today to invest $24 million, along with ECO Plastics Ltd. (which will contribute about $5 million of that) to build a new, plastic bottle recycling facility in Lincolnshire, England. In recent weeks, the company also struck a landmark deal to sell its 30 percent plant-based plastic to Heinz, which will begin to use it in ketchup and condiments packaging in… → Read More
On Tuesday, a San Diego-based startup Grid2Home raised $2.6 million in a new round with its previous investors, Granite Ventures according to a new SEC filing.
The company sells integration software and systems to: semiconductor manufacturers, smart device makers, utilities and automotive companies, currently. Its technology ensures that grid-connected devices — like smart home meters, and… → Read More
A newly released app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, called PlugShare aims to alleviate so-called “range anxiety” for electric vehicle drivers by giving them a map of an area’s available, paid charging stations and homes or lots that will allow them to plug in and recharge for free.
Xatori co-founder and chief executive Forrest North —who previously worked as an engineer at Tesla Motors… → Read More
Telecommunications giant AT&T announced the results of its 2010 energy efficiency efforts today. According to the company’s own report, it saw $44 million in annualized energy savings as a result of implementing 4,200 energy efficiency projects at its facilities last year. These included familiar technologies that, pervasively applied, made a big difference, like:
Swapping incandescent light… → Read More
Today marked the last day of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) 2011 summit in Washington D.C. Here are some of the deals and agency decisions revealed or discussed at the summit, which are likely to impact green tech investors and startups in America for years to come.
Progress on seed investments…
The D.O.E. boasted that six, private companies that it… → Read More
BioSolar, a small public company (OTCBB: BSRC.OB) that makes solar backsheets — a component of the equipment used to hold solar photovoltaic modules in place within frames and racks, and to protect the modules from weather and other damage — attained safety certifications from Underwriter Laboratories this week.
The UL-certification enables BioSolar to sell its backsheets to a variety of… → Read More
Hour.ly, a New York City startup that matches temporary job seekers and freelancers with prospective gigs and employers online, unveiled two new features and partnerships on Tuesday with Trufina and Tinychat.
Co-founded by Brooke and Lynn Dixon (Left to right, in image below), Hour.ly has been in pre-revenue, beta mode since September 2010. The bootstrapped company’s newest site features should… → Read More
In a quest to start something as big as the Apple in the Big Apple, a number of incubators, funds and fellowship programs have sprung up in New York City in recent months.
The FinTech Innovation Lab made its debut in December 2010, and the NYC Turing Fellows program in January. Incubators like TechStars and DreamItVentures moved into town around the same time, too. One program that predated these… → Read More
Annapolis-based Nexus EnergyHomes raised the first $200,000 of a $1.5 million dollar series A round, a new SEC filing revealed. The company designs, sells and builds pre-fab homes that are “net zero,” or zero energy homes (ZEHs).
According to the U.S. Department of Energy ZEHs are “connected to the utility grid but can be designed and constructed to produce as much energy as they consume [or… → Read More
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