Massachusetts-based FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp. announced that it closed a $34.5 million Series B financing round in December, 2009 and has hired a new
CEO.
Three new investors joined previous investors Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and
Byers in the Series B: a Goldman Sachs managed
investment fund, Technology Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded an $8.3 million grant to FloDesign
as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA?E)
program.
Following the closing of the Series B financing, Mr. Lars A. Andersen joined FloDesign as CEO.
Prior to joining FloDesign, Mr. Andersen was President of Vestas China, where he was responsible for
leading and growing the company into the largest multinational?owned wind turbine supplier in China.
He joined Vestas (VWS.CO) in 2001, having previously served in engineering and management positions with ABB
Power Generation in Switzerland and Black and Veatch in the US.
FloDesign has released little information about the design of its wind
turbine, though the company says it employs jet engine technology.
Andersen told Xconomy that the company's wind turbine is "a totally different and disrupting technology," but that the company is in an early stage and still has to design its product and determine a strategy for commercialization.
