FloDesign Wind Turbine, a manufacturer of high efficiency wind turbines that use technology initially developed by the aerospace industry, has closed a $34.5 million Series B funding round led by returning investor Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers.
New investors in this second round include a unit of Goldman Sachs, as well as cleantech-focused venture capital funds Technology Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
The Wilbraham, Mass.-based company was also recently awarded an $8.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA‐E) program.
FloDesign plans to use the cash it raised from its investors and the money it secured from the government to scale production as it transitions from a research and development company into a full-scale manufacturing company.
To oversee this growth, FloDesign has hired Vestas executive Lars Andersen as its new CEO. He replaces company founder Stanley Kowalski, who stays on as a vice president. At Vestas Andersen was president of the Danish wind turbine manufacturer’s Chinese subsidiary. He officially started work at FloDesign on January 4th.
In a prepared statement Andersen said:
I am very pleased with the prominent venture investors who are backing this company. It will be an exciting journey to build a world‐class company applying leading edge technology in the wind sector.
Andersen has also worked with ABB Power Generation in Switzerland and for engineering group Black and Veatch in the US.