Crispin Leick, managing director of Innogy Venture Capital, says: "Enercast addresses a fundamental problem of renewable energies. Fluctuations in the feed in of wind and solar electricity lead to a burden on the grids and ultimately to a level of insecurity with regard to the supply of electricity. The more reliable forecast data is available, the better renewables can be integrated into existing grids and thus into the electricity market. "

On-Ramp said last month $10.1m of a planned $30m round had been raised, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The venture firm backed by Alstom, Solvay Rhodia and Schneider Electric invest in the France-based light emitting diode company.

News provider Globes said undisclosed Chinese investors were alongside Landa, which was founded in 2002 by Benny Landa, the entrepreneur behind Indigo and its sale to computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP).

Solexel lists as one of its investors Spirox Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Taiwan-based technology distributor

The Saudia Arabia-based petrochemical manufacturer and the Netherlands-based university work together to commercialise the university's technology which prevents over-heating of solar collectors.

Bob Woods, the former chairman of Switzerland-based crops company Syngenta, becomes executive chairman, while Bill Kirk and Troy Fukumoto have joined the board.

In December 2010, oil major BP's corporate venturing unit had joined the consortium investing $110m in Abound.