Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest - 08/13/10

(photo Erika Nortemann/TNC)

It's a special Friday the 13th edition of The Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest!

Some spooky news this week:

A quartet of earnings reports came out this week in cleantech: SunPower, Cree, and A123, LDK: Earnings
 
While there was some good news for Solazyme, which netted $52M for its algae fuel biz: Green with Algae

Not so scary is my old pal Sanjayan from TNC who is profiled in Outside Magazine. The guy is "Mr. Nature" on cable TV these days and looks pretty hot in a tee shirt (look out Anderson Cooper): Sanjayan
 
TechCrunch covered Philly-Based Incubator DreamIt Ventures as 14 Startups were graduated from the Summer 2010 program: DreamIt

Meanwhile, Philly VCs are keeping a close eye on Massachusetts. Technically Philly explains why: Philly VCs

Rapidly becoming one of my favorite greentech reporters Katie Fehrenbacher reported on the joint efforts of  Google and Vinod Khosla to save California's greentech market.
 
Razor sharp insights from Lucy Marcus on why companies need active, engaged, independent, and interested board members: Non-Exec Boards
 
My pal Andy Swan pointed me to this article that explains why cash is the ultimate vote. Do you have a list of people that will BUY what you are selling? 10 Buyers
 
And in case you missed it, here's a link to my appearance on FOX Business with Varney & Co this week, talking about $BP oil spill: Wheres the Oil in the Gulf?

Have a great weekend everybody!

(Disclosure: I hold long positions in $CREE and $AONE. This post is for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be investment advice nor an offer, or the solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell any securities.)

 

A123 Systems Electrifies On Its First Trading Day

Image via CrunchBase

I've been watching Lithium-ion car battery maker A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE) for a few years now and have been anxiously awaiting their IPO. Thus far, AONE shares have not disappointed, rocketing as much as 45 percent in its NASDAQ debut.

$AONE began the trading day at $17, got as high as $20 before noon, and is hovering around $19.86 as I write this post. The IPO delivered a premium over its $13.50 share price.

The brain-child of MIT scientists, Waltham, Massachusetts-based A123, develops batteries and battery systems for electric vehicles, including plug-ins using a proprietary nanophosphate technology.

A123 has an impressive list of investors among its principal shareholders, including GE, Qualcomm, Motorala, and North Bridge Venture Partners, an equally impressive client list, and a recent vote of confidence from the federal government, receiving $249M as part of the stimulus funds for electric car advancement.

I know there are plenty of naysayers out there. After all, A123 has been losing money since its launch in 2001 ($146M on $168M in revenue). But it has done one thing extremely well: focused on improving its technology and becoming the leading developers of advanced car system batteries and battery systems for the electric grid and consumer markets in the US.

(Disclosure: Long AONE)

Related articles by Zemanta

• A123Systems is ready for its close up - preps for tomorrow's IPO (green.venturebeat.com)
• Lithium-ion new hotness in electric cars - except for Toyota (arstechnica.com)
• When an Electric Car Dies, What Will Happen to the Battery? (scientificamerican.com)
• Entire Mercedes S-Class Could be Hybrids (abcnews.go.com)
• DOE juices battery companies with $2.4B in stimulus funds (green.venturebeat.com)
• Will car battery maker A123 Systems jump start the IPO market? (dailyfinance.com)
• A123 IPO priced to charge car battery market (money.cnn.com)

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