Catch the Wind secures $18.8M - Washington Business Journal:

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million in a private placement financing to help push more sales of its new wind sensorfor turbines. Manassas-basedf Catch the Wind, which trades on the Toronto Venture soldroughly 16.7 million shares at a price of Canadiajn $1.30 apiece in what it hopes to be its last major equity financing before generating enough revenue from its laser wind-sensingv product, Vindicator, to pay for operations. Company officials also participatedc in theinvestment round, along with institutional bringing its total equith fundraising to date to nearlhy $35 million.
, Research Capital and Canaccord Capital served as placement agents for this latesy fundraising in return for 6 percent of the grosas proceeds and additional stock Spun off last yearfrom LLC, a fibefr optics laser company that still shares the same headquarterz space, Catch the Wind has been developing similare technology that senses when wind is imminent, helping reorientg a turbine to capture that wind befor it passes. Most wind turbines can realign its bladese only after it feels so they’re often too late to actualluy benefit from gusts, company officials said.
“Before, it was the horse-and-buggty approach to measuring wind,” said Phil who founded Optical Air Data Systemsx nearly 20 years ago with his wife beford leaving recently to serve as CEO for Catcuhthe Wind. “Think about increasing the gas mileage of your he said. “You’ve alreadg bought your car. But if I can sell you somethinh that doubles the gas mileage ofyour car, you wouled save more money.” He estimates the Vindicator can captures 10 percent to 30 percent more wind for turbines, which in turn helpes generate more clean electricity and ultimatelhy revenue for their operators.
Catchh the Wind recently sold its first unitto , a Canadian environmentalo monitoring equipment maker, whil e starting its first two-month field test with the Nebraska Public Power Districyt on its largest wind farm with 36 wind The local company, which said it’s also talkintg to federal agencies, hopes to use that trial’s results latetr this summer to market to othefr wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm operators. With six full-timr employees, Catch the Wind expects to at least doublde that count by the end of this The company, which had $5.
5 million in cash and equivalents on hand as of Marc h 31, is also considering whether to list itselgf on an American exchange later this year. “We aspire to that,” Rogers said. “I just can’yt say when.”