1366 Technologies, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based solar wafer maker, raised $8.4 million in financing from VantagePoint Venture Partners and General Electric Co. unit GE Energy Financial Services.
The amount is an addition to the $20 million of second round of venture capital financing that brings to a total of $46 million that 1366 has raised from private investors, GE Energy Financial Services said in a statement today. 1366 has also received a $4 million funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program in October 2009.
The latest financing round includes existing investors Hanwha Chemical Corp., Ventizz Private Equity AG and North Bridge Venture Partners, which took part in the previous round in October.
1366 says its “direct wafer” technology can cut the cost of silicon wafers, a component used in the production of solar panels, by 65 percent. The key to this cost reduction is scaling revenue, the company’s chief executive officer Frank van Mierlo said yesterday in an interview.
“I think solar power will be cheaper than coal by the end of this decade,” van Mierlo said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ehren Goossens in New York at egoossens1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net
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