Biggest energy efficiency deal of '09 goes to Serious Materials

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based green building materials company Serious Materials said today it has closed its $60 million Series C round, marking the largest venture capital financing of the year in the green building and energy efficiency sectors. 

The round is expected to accelerate its growth and allow the company to continue developing building products that lower energy costs, including windows, glass and drywall.

The financing was led by Chicago-based Mesirow Financial, a diversified financial services firm, and included new investors Enertech Capital, Cheyenne Partners, and Saints Capital.

Existing investors in the round included New Enterprise Associates, Foundation Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Navitas Capital, and Staenberg Ventures.

Serious Materials has raised more than $120 million to date with today’s round (see How green is your drywall?).

Berkeley, Calif.-based Navitas Capital, which invests in the cleantech sector with an emphasis on green building materials and technologies, said its principals led Serious Materials’ initial financing round in 2005.

The transaction is one of the largest U.S. venture capital deals to date for 2009 in the cleantech sector, with some of the biggest rounds including $82.5 million to Tesla Motors, $77.6 million going to SolFocus, and $75 million for Suniva (see Tesla calls new investment 'endorsement', SolFocus closes $77.6M round, readies for manufacturing ramp and
Inside the year’s 2nd largest solar round).

It's also the largest VC deal of the year in the green building and energy efficiency sectors, according to Cleantech Group data. 

The year's second largest deal in green building and energy efficiency went to Turbine Air Systems, which raised $47 million in the second quarter of 2009. The company manufactures packaged cooling and energy systems for various markets (see Chery Auto drives China’s week of cleantech domination).

Serious Materials recently opened its fifth production facility (see Green construction fuels growth at Serious Materials).

Serious Materials says its insulating windows help to reduce heating and cooling energy costs by up to 50 percent, while its insulating commercial glass also offers energy efficiencies.

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