raised $25 million in a Series C financing last month that was the top deal for the month. The company, whose technology comes from MIT, is adapting catalysts used in chemical reactions performed on long-chain hydrocarbon molecules to help oil refiners pump more useable fuel out of each barrel of crude oil. The technology could also have implications in making other chemicals and biofuels more efficient.
As far as other big December deals go, Cambridge-based car-sharing service Zipcar took the runner-up deals spot with a $21 million Series G round. Semprus BioSciences, a medical device firm also operating out of Cambridge, came in third with an $18 million Series B deal.
In more sector news, Bay State mobile and telecommunications companies saw a sizeable boost in the cash they raised in December, compared to the rest of the fourth quarter. They raised $16.8 million in six equity deals last month, led by a $5.5 million in Series B money for Fluent Mobile. The Boston mobile marketing firm offers an iPhone news-aggregating app.
Read below for the full list of December equity deals.
Bay State startups also raised a whopping $83.4 million in nine non-equity deals. The big pot can be attributed to Boston, MA-based First Wind, which attracted a $76 million loan that it says will go to building its 40 megawatt Sheffield wind energy project in Vermont. Check out the chart below for details on the other debt- and options-based financings in December. [An earlier version of this paragraph mistakenly said that First Wind was based in Newton, MA. The company relocated to Boston last year. We regret the error.]
