[Posted on December 20, 2007 - 2:24 PM]
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Just as two of its rivals are gaining momentum, Miasole is losing some. The Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers-backed startup is reportedly laying off 40 employees only three months after appointing a new CEO and raising $50 million in fourth round funding. With exits still elusive in the cleantech segment, a shakeout seems premature. But, that's what it looks like is happening in the area of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells. This is a technology used to make thin solar panels. Miasole's rivals include Nanosolar, which said this week it has started manufacturing cells, and HelioVolt, which said this week it has started building a production plant.
There is a lot at stake in this CIGS market.
Nanosolar has raised $100 million in three rounds of funding from MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Firelake Capital, Onpoint, Mitsui and others. Heliovolt has raised $101 million over two rounds from New Enterprise Associates, Paladin Capital Group, Masdar Clean Tech Fund, Credit Suisse, Sequel Venture Partners, Noventi Ventures, Passport Capital and Siemens Venture Capital.
Aside from Kleiner Perkins, the poor guys that placed their bets on Miasole include VantagePoint Venture Partners, Firelake Strategic Technology Fund, Garage Technology Ventures and Nippon Kouatsu Electric Co. Ltd. The company has raised a total of $108 million in four rounds of financing.
I'm surprised that Kleiner Perkins appears to have backed the wrong horse. For a firm that focuses so intently on this area, I guess I just expect them to have a higher success rate than say, Benchmark, which is a tourist in the area of cleantech.
It's also interesting to note that another very active cleantech investor, Vinod Khosla, isn't involved with this trio of CIGS startups. Instead, his solar interests consist of Stion, Ausra and Infinia. - Joshua Jaffe
