The Week in Cleantech – Jan. 28 – Feb. 3

Here are a few nuggets from last week, tracked on Cleantech Group’s i3 Platform:

Smart thermostat company Nest led headlines last week with an $80 million Series B equity raise from Generation Investment Management, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and others. The round, reportedly done at a post-money valuation of $800 million, continues strong investor interest in the “smart home” area of building energy efficiency.

Monsanto, a favorite punching bag of sustainable agriculture advocates but one of the most active corporate investors in clean agriculture tech, acquired the core assets of Agradis. Agradis, a spinout from Synthetic Genomics also backed by DFJ and Plenus, uses genomics to develop non-food biofuel feedstock crops.

And a new grid-focused cleantech venture fund was launched by the Illinois state government, via the Illinois Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA). The fund, Energy Foundry, is backed by Illinois utilities Ameren and ComEd and will be managed as a non-profit ever-green fund, meaning positive investment returns will be reinvested in the fund.

Finally, Cleantech Group Forum San Francisco is coming up soon (March 18-20), followed less than a month later by Cleantech Forum Europe in Bilbao (April 16-18). We would love to see you at one or both events. Register today!