US-based solar power manufacturer 1366 Technologies has again extended its series B round by $2.4m by adding a further two investors to its consortium, which includes Korea-based Hanwha Chemical.
1366 said it had raised $28.4m in total by adding GE Energy Financial Services, a division of US-listed industrial conglomerate General Electric, and venture capital (VC) firm VantagePoint Venture Partners.
GE Energy Financial Services’ corporate venturing team has invested about $200m in 28 early- and growth-stage energy-related technology companies since January 2006.
Kevin Skillern, managing director of venture capital at GE Energy Financial Services, said: "1366 Technologies’ efficient and low-cost process produces silicon wafers-the market for which doubled to $7.5bn from 2009 to 2010-that can be easily fed into existing solar PV [photo-voltaic] cell manufacturing lines."
Last year, 1366 raised an initial $20m from Hanwha and VC firms Ventizz Capital Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners before a regulatory filing in December showed $26m had been raised.
1366 previously raised $17.55m since launch in March 2008 as a spin out from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.