Gaia Power and CellFor

• Speaking of the "smart grid", Gaia Power announced a $2.25M Series A investment today, led by GHO Ventures (recent space traveller Greg Olsen's investment vehicle), and including the NJTC Venture Fund and the Small Business Technology Investment Fund of the Empire State Development Corporation. Gaia Power's initial energy storage/ backup power products are turnkey systems aimed at both the business and residential markets.

• CellFor, which produces superior tree seedlings for industrial forestry, announced the completion of a US$32M Series C raise, with a corporate investment from DuPont, and including existing investors ATP Capital, CSFB Private Equity, GrowthWorks Capital, and BDC Venture Capital. CellFor's "naturally-selected" varietal pine seedlings are disease resistant, and provide higher yield and wood characteristics, thus improving efficiency of industrial forestry operations. This is one of those investment areas where "cleantech" is in the eye of the beholder -- readers are invited to comment pro and con.