June 19, 2003 — Nanosolar Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif., developer of solar electricity cells, announced it closed on $5 million in first-round equity funding and $1.5 million in lease financing.
The round was led by U.S Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital. Stanford University and unnamed individuals also participated, according to a news release. The company secured its lease financing from Western Technology Investment.
Nanosolar will use the funds for product and business development. The company was founded in October 2001. It uses self-assembling nanostructures and organic photovoltaic technologies originally developed and licensed from Sandia National Laboratories.