Venture investors put $6.46 billion to work during the year, down from $9.61 billion in 2011, the Cleantech Group reports. The number of deals came in at 704, which was down 15% from a year earlier…

More U.S.-based VCs and acquirers came up to Canada in 2012, looking for good deal flow, rational valuations and inexpensive buys.

Doodling may not sound productive, but done the right way, it can help energize, organize, and sell a startup’s mission. So says Kevin Cheng, a well-regarded designer who spent years developing products at Yahoo; Raptr, the social network for gamers; and Twitter, and who more recently cofounded Incredible Labs

Okta has unveiled an enterprise identity network and major service update with expanded capabilities for cloud, mobile and on-premises environments. Okta is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

Transonic Combustion, a company focused on developing a high efficiency fuel injection system for internal combustion engines, has closed a $32 million Series D Round of funding. Founded in 2006, the company is backed by Venrock, Khosla Ventures, Rustic Canyon and Saints Capital. Transonic Combustion is headquartered in Camarillo, California.

NanoH2O, a manufacturer of cost effective reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination, has appointed global operations veteran, Doug Barnes as chief operating officer. The business is backed by Oak Investment Partners, Khosla Ventures, BASF Venture Capital, Total Energy Ventures International and Keytone Ventures.

LightSail Energy, a developer of energy storage technology, has raised $37.3 million in Series D funding led by San Francisco investor Peter Thiel. Khosla Ventures, which incubated the company and led LightSail’s earlier rounds, Bill Gates, Innovacorp, and several other investors also participated in the round.

Khosla Ventures’ performance numbers don’t look bad considering its heavy allocation to clean technology. But the firm hasn’t really sold much. It’s hanging on to stakes in now-public biofuel companies and most of best performing investments are still private.

Big Switch Networks said it raised $25 million of Series B funding in a deal led by Redpoint Ventures and joined by Goldman Sachs and existing investors Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and others. Big Switch Networks closed a $14 million Series A funding in March of 2011 and has raised $39 million to date. It will use the funding to expand engineering, sales and marketing teams.

LittleBits said it raised a $3.65 million Series A round that was led by True Ventures and joined by Khosla Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Lerer Ventures. The company also said it struck a partnership deal with supply chain management company PCH International. PRESS RELEASE littleBits Closes Series A and Partners with PCH International To [...]