The energy conversion company gets $20M from Google Ventures for a total of $38M raised

The energy industry got a bit of a surprise Wednesday afternoon when energy conversion company Transphorm emerged from stealth mode already in its third round of funding. The company announced Wednesday that it has raised $20 million in a Series C round led by Google Ventures, with help from existing venture investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Foundation Capital, and Lux Capital. This brings the company's total raised to $38 million since its creation in 2007. The startup takes a unique approach to energy efficiency--in fact, it's pretty on-the-nose. When electric power is converted, some 10% of it is typically lost in the process, which adds up to 318 coal-fired power plants every year. If this sounds costly, that's because it is--it ... [Read more]