Beacon Power, based in Massachusetts, is a small cap publicly traded venture that has been around since 2000. Beacon Power is a vendor of an energy storage solution, part of the so-called "smart-grid." The firm's technology is based around large mechanical batteries that store energy in a kinetic state by spi... More >>

Beacon Power, based in Massachusetts, is a small cap publicly traded venture that has been around since 2000. Beacon Power is a vendor of an energy storage solution, part of the so-called "smart-grid." The firm's technology is based around large mechanical batteries that store energy in a kinetic state by spinning flywheels at high speeds. According to a Beach Power spokesman, while "flywheels have traditionally been able to release only a small amount of energy in a relatively small bust of power, [Beacon Power's flywheels] release a large amount of energy in a large burst of power," making it viable energy storage solution.<br /> <br /> Beacon Power is a part of the larger energy storage/regulation services sector, which has attracted increased attention as a remedy for the nation's energy woes.<br /> <br /> Traditionally, utilities have operated two separate types of power plants – base power plants and peak power plants. Base power plants are designed to operate continuously at an efficient or optimal level. However, power demand fluctuates day to day, and even intra-day, and thus at any given time base power plants may not be generating enough electricity to meet needs. Utilities are thus forced to operate peak power plants that only run at times of increased demand. Since peak power plants are only used intermittently, and not for extended periods of time, they are typically higher-cost and less efficient, and also have a larger environmental footprint as most peak power plants are fuel-based.<br /> <br /> Power storage and frequency regulation solutions, such as that offered by Beacon Power are attractive in the way that energy can be generated and stored at off-peak hours, and released as necessary onto the grid to meet demand during peak periods. This smoothing effect reduces the need for peak power facilities. Moreover, as alternative energy sources as solar and wind power see increased usage over the coming years, the need for regulation sources will increase as such power sources are highly intermittent.<br /> <br /> Beacon Power has received regulatory approval in California and New York, and the firm says that it is targeting three major markets in the United States where demand is especially high, namely California, Texas, and the eastern seaboard. Beacon Power was able to complete equity financing of $7.9 million from the issuance of 8.7 million shares in October, funding it has put towards the commercial deployment of its technology. In mid-December, the firm garnered an additional $4.4 million of financing through the sale of warrants.<br /> <br /> Beacon Power recently entered into a pilot program launched by ISO New England Inc. that is aimed at bringing alternative technologies to regulate power on the local power grid of the New English area. The program, lasting 18 months, is looking to bring in 18 megawatts of power storage & regulation capacity to the grid. Though Beacon Power's technology has been proven in two demonstration programs in California and New York, the ISO pilot will be Beacon Power's first commercial application, and could potentially generate around $2million in revenues per year for the firm through the provision of 5 megawatts of regulation capacity, based upon prior company projections.<br /> <br /> As of the start of 2009, Beacon Power has been forced to adjust its deployment timeline for its technology, citing global economic uncertainty and volatility of credit and equity markets, and has stated that the firm intends to reach the capacity of 5 megawatts, originally planned for the end of the year, by end of Q1 2009. However, the firm will have begun earning commercial revenue as of November 18th from the 1 megawatt of frequency regulation capacity the firm had in place at its Tyngsboro, Massachusetts facility as of that date.<br /> <br /> Adverse economic conditions have been battering alternative energy solutions, and Beacon Power is no exception. With a decrease in demand and prices for fossil fuels, and credit tight, emerging technologies such as that proposed by Beacon Power may be a hard sell, at least in the near future. Beacon Power also faces a good amount of competition, as there is no shortage of firms with energy storage solutions based upon the myriad of compositing technologies, such as fuel cells, advanced lithium-ion batteries, and the like. Moreover, Beacon Power, though started in 2000, reported $1.4 million of revenues on a $13 million loss for fiscal 2007, and has only reported $4000 in revenues with a net loss of $5.6 million for Q3 2008.<br /> <br /> Beacon Power, however, has been able to finance itself reasonable well given the state of the markets, and it has been able to skirt by and receive regulatory approval that has stymied a number of other firms in the sector. Beacon Power may yet have a positive bottom line if it is able to prove commercial application of its technology and weather the next few years – a big if.<br /> << Less

Infinite Power Solutions solidified its lead in the research and development of thin-film energy storage devices when it became the first to commercialize its technology, with shipments already scheduled.<br /> <br /> Infinite Power Solutions' product family of THINERGY™ micro-energy cells are a "ne... More >>

Infinite Power Solutions solidified its lead in the research and development of thin-film energy storage devices when it became the first to commercialize its technology, with shipments already scheduled.<br /> <br /> Infinite Power Solutions' product family of THINERGY™ micro-energy cells are a "new class of electronic components that are ultra-thin and flexible -- providing nearly lossless energy storage along with unrivaled rechargeability, cycle life and power performance." Applications for Infinite Power Solutions' product include sensors, tags, and other micro-controllers with a need for active energy sources that are sufficiently small, and may grow to include smart cards, medical devices, consumer electronics, as well as automotive, civil, military and aerospace applications, evidenced by Infinite Power Solutions' October 2007 announcement that it had signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to develop specialized products for unspecified uses.<br /> <br /> Such thin-film batteries are able to deliver the same amount of energy as current lithium-ion batteries, but are thinner and come in moldable forms, presenting an advantage for applications that are space constrained, such as cell-phones. However, the batteries come at a much higher price tag, and currently are only able to provide bursts of power over shorter intervals, as opposed to the prolonged low-energy consumption required by many consumer applications.<br /> <br /> Infinite Power Solutions first raised $35.7 million in 2006, and has garnered an additional $13 million in a second round of financing in order to fund mass-production of its products. With backing from firms as D.E. Shaw Ventures, Polaris Ventures, Core Capital Partners, Applied Materials' venture arm Applied Ventures and In-Q-Tel, Infinite Power Solutions seems to have a demonstrated a good amount of potential. In fact, Infinite Power Solutions has been able to raise more private equity than any other thin-film micro-battery technology in the past decade, which is, according to Infinite Power Solutions' CEO Ray Johnson, \"a testament to our compelling value proposition" in the current credit environment.<br /> <br /> Although thin-film technology is not groundbreaking – scientists have been developing thin-film batteries for some two decades – there have been few examples of commercial success. Infinite Power Solutions, with its commercialized product and strong venture backing, shows a lot of promise, and looks to be on track to extending its market leadership. << Less

Wave power, as compared to solar or wind power as an alternative energy source, has been promoted as being more attractive because the motion of waves is perceived as being more reliable than other alternatives. However, commercial development of wave power technology has developed slowly due to slow technological prog... More >>

Wave power, as compared to solar or wind power as an alternative energy source, has been promoted as being more attractive because the motion of waves is perceived as being more reliable than other alternatives. However, commercial development of wave power technology has developed slowly due to slow technological progress and the difficultly of finding suitable locations to put wave energy facilities.<br /> <br /> Finavera Renewables, a Canadian venture, showed some promise when it entered into an agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric to deploy a 2-megawatt energy farm off the coast of northern California. Finavera's technology employs buoys that float with the rise and fall of waves, using the vertical motion to pressurize seawater which is used to drive turbines to generate electricity. The successful deployment of the project would have proved commercial feasibility, but hopes were dashed by state regulatory agencies. A committee by the California Public Utilities Commission denied Pacific Gas & Electric's approval request for the contract, stating that the wave energy project with its new and unproven technology was not viable.<br /> <br /> Finavera, however, is not a pure play when it comes to wave power, having several wind energy project under development as well – when the firm's California wave deal was struck down, Finavera stated that the company was to focus its efforts on wind energy development in the future. Following this strategy, Finavera is in the process of bidding for wind power projects in British Columbia with $800 million in backing from GE Energy Financial Services.<br /> <br /> Although Finavera has changed its strategic goals, the company continues to develop its wave power technology. According to Daniel Englander of Greentechmedia, \"The Finavera-PG&E deal was very speculative. Finavera is not a bad company; it\'s just not at a stage to deliver power commercially.\"<br /> <br /> The nixed wave power deal may have hurt short-term prospects, but look to Finavera to maintain its wave power research and development and possibly be one of the first to produce a commercially viable product in a very promising segment of the alternative energy industry. << Less

Perceptive Pixel is a company on the cutting edge of research and development of so-called multi-touch surfaces, the evolution of touch screens where the surface is able to recognize multiple touch points simultaneously. While multi-touch itself does not enable the users to do anything strictly "new," per-se,... More >>

Perceptive Pixel is a company on the cutting edge of research and development of so-called multi-touch surfaces, the evolution of touch screens where the surface is able to recognize multiple touch points simultaneously. While multi-touch itself does not enable the users to do anything strictly "new," per-se, the drive behind multi-touch is to allow users to engage with the interface in a more intuitive and efficient manner – physical gestures translate into the equivalent virtual interactions with the software. Portrayed in popular culture in movies as Minority Report and Quantum of Solace and the television network series CSI: Miami, multi-touch interfaces can now be found integrated into retail consumer offerings as the iPhone cellphone and Apple notebooks. <br /> <br /> While there are a number of companies developing proprietary versions of multi-touch interfaces, including the high-powered and deep pocketed technology giants Microsoft and Apple, Perceptive Pixel has managed to steal the limelight with its innovative offerings and public visibility. For coverage of the 2008 presidential election, CNN relied heavily upon use of Perceptive Pixel's 7.5'' multi-touch monitor, dubbed the "Magic Wall," to update viewers on the proceedings of the election. Moreover, the multi-touch interface allowed CNN to display otherwise overwhelming numerical data in more accessible graphical forms, and provided for seamless manipulation of the data for projections, hypothetical scenarios, and the like.<br /> <br /> Perceptive Pixel has also inked deals with unspecified governmental parties with applications in national defense – imagine huge battle maps where officers are able to conduct the flow of a battle and navigate through the combat landscape with the taps and pinches of fingers.<br /> <br /> Although Perceptive Pixel's offerings are currently too expensive for consumer application, with displays running for around $100,000, smaller, less expensive retail-oriented offerings should emerge soon as the technology is refined and manufacturing is streamlined. Perceptive Pixel will face stiff competition in the retail arena, and it will be interesting to see how Apple and Microsoft will react, as well as Perceptive Pixel's strategy for entrance into the retail segment.<br /> <br /> Prospects look bright for Perceptive Pixel – human interface efficiency and the streamlining of workflows to increase productivity have been garnering increased attention as firms search for ways to decrease costs and increase revenues with extensive restructuring, and Perceptive Pixel is certainly in a position to capitalize upon that movement. Look to Perceptive Pixel as a high-opportunity, high-growth company if the firm can come up with the right products and strategy to expand into the retail or enterprise segments. << Less

The idea of energy management is one that holds quite a bit of promise when it comes to finding a solution to the nation's energy woes. With a major energy crisis sweeping the northeastern states not a decade ago, and rolling blackouts a regular issue in California, there has been somewhat of a sense of urgency in find... More >>

The idea of energy management is one that holds quite a bit of promise when it comes to finding a solution to the nation's energy woes. With a major energy crisis sweeping the northeastern states not a decade ago, and rolling blackouts a regular issue in California, there has been somewhat of a sense of urgency in finding a way to address these issues. While one solution has been to simply increase the supply of power by pushing utilities to spend more on expansion and infrastructure, startup Comverge has a different way of dealing with the problem.<br /> <br /> Much like EnerNoc (http://www.chubbybrain.com/companyprofile.php?id=6614), Comverge deals in the business of energy information management, seeking to use and allocate the energy that is currently available in a more efficient manner, smoothing consumption to prevent spikes in demand that subsequently lead to black/brownouts due to overcapacity. Comverge does this by providing software to willing businesses that monitor the demand of energy in real-time, adjusting power consumption of the business as demand fluctuates. Should there be a spike in demand, Comverge's software automatically curbs the usage of air conditioning, dims lighting, or cut nonessential drains of power. In exchange, those businesses receive fee payments from Comverge.<br /> <br /> Comverge thus generates revenue from utilities for providing such a service, which saves the utilities themselves a great deal of money – during extreme peaks, the cost of producing additional energy can soar to some $1,000 per megawatt hour. Moreover, employing the services of Comverge is an attractive option when compared to the alternative of increasing supply through the capital intensive and expensive expansion of operations through construction of new plants.<br /> <br /> Comverge went public in early 2007, not a month apart from competitor EnerNOC, and both have seen better times. Peaking at nearly $38 per share in mid 2007, Comverge's stock price has slid to $6 per share, reflecting the current bleak economic outlook. <br /> <br /> However, according to Pacific Growth Equities analyst Richard Rambaldo, commercial and residential demand for electricity has grown by 33% and 26%, respectively, over the last decade, all while the nation's energy infrastructure ages, with "more than 70% of transmission lines and electricity transformers more than 25 years old."<br /> Moreover, Comverge recently secured a secured 25 million credit facility, which combined with existing cash and financing, will allow Comverge to weather the current economic uncertainty and fund growth of the business.<br /> <br /> With the economic growth and thus the demand for energy sure to pick up in the future, Comverge can expect to see brighter prospects. Given Comverge's solid financial condition with plenty of cash to draw upon, expect Comverge to position itself well for the coming years.<br /> <br /> << Less

With the last decade marked by skyrocketing demand for energy, far outstripping the increase in supply, energy prices have experienced heavy upward pressures. In order to meet the increased demand, alternative energy sources as solar, wind, and ethanol have been identified as potential areas for expansion.<br /> ... More >>

With the last decade marked by skyrocketing demand for energy, far outstripping the increase in supply, energy prices have experienced heavy upward pressures. In order to meet the increased demand, alternative energy sources as solar, wind, and ethanol have been identified as potential areas for expansion.<br /> <br /> EnerNoc is a firm that takes a different approach, however, working on a method to allocate the resources that are already available in a more efficient manner. The technology being developed by EnerNoc is a form of demand-response technology, or energy information management. EnerNoc's product automates power conservation, adjusting demand to ease power consumption during peak periods and working to solve the problems of black/brownouts caused by overcapacity. <br /> <br /> EnerNoc works by subscribing commercial and industrial sites to its network and providing its proprietary software that curtails energy usage in real time as demand on the power grid fluctuates. The network members are compensated through a pro rata compensation for any power curtailment the firm experiences in addition to a periodic payment for being part of the service. Moreover, since demand is automatically adjusted during times of peak consumption and thus high prices, subscribers are also able to cut costs.<br /> <br /> With California dealing with very real demand issues and the Northeast suffering from a dated power grid unable to handle spikes in usage, EnerNoc's software goes a long way toward alleviating both problems. Estimates by EnerNoc in regulatory filings state that demand-response solutions such as the service provided by EnerNoc "have the potential to offset $5.9 billion per year in projected infrastructure expenditures in the United States and Canada." What's more, allocating existing resources more efficiently instead of increasing supply has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<br /> <br /> In a market that is anticipated to reach $4.7 billion by 2013, up from $2.7 billion this year according to estimates by Lux Research, EnerNoc is entering to a lucrative development market.<br /> <br /> Investors sentiment diverges somewhat from this bright outlook, and EnerNoc's share price has been battered since its IPO in early 2007, peaking at nearly $50/share and sliding to some $7/share as of late December 2008. This may be due in part due to confusion over the business model and profitability estimates, as well as reluctance on the part of the firm to release numbers about contracts and profitability. Regardless, EnerNoc has meet or beats its own performance estimates, recording strong revenue growth and setting record third-quarter revenue levels for 2008.<br /> <br /> EnerNoc's future looks encouraging, even if it isn't expected to turn a profit until 2010 by its own forecasts. << Less

A combination of spikes in demand for corn and an unexpected series of droughts hindering supply have causes a unforeseen jump in corn prices, with the price per bushel of the commodity reaching parity with the price per barrel of oil. This recent trend does not bode well for the largely corn-based ethanol market, whic... More >>

A combination of spikes in demand for corn and an unexpected series of droughts hindering supply have causes a unforeseen jump in corn prices, with the price per bushel of the commodity reaching parity with the price per barrel of oil. This recent trend does not bode well for the largely corn-based ethanol market, which, even prior to these developments, was barely profitable despite heavy government subsidies.<br /> <br /> VeraSun, a company with a pure play in the ethanol market, has been squeezed tight, and has been forced to file bankruptcy in order to find protection while it restructures and searches for a way to survive given the skyrocketing commodity prices and poor economic conditions. VeraSun may be able to find salvation in the from of an acquisition, and the firm has reported that it has been solicited for possible buyout, though the company will not disclose from who. VeraSun does hold quite a bit of asset value in 16 ethanol plants that it has constructed, which also may be lucrative for outside management seeking to get their hands dirty, presumably with a new strategic focus.<br /> <br /> Prospects do not look good for VeraSun, and the ethanol industry as a whole, otherwise. << Less

Smart grid technology has been heralded as a way to modernize the nation\'s aging energy system, allowing for more efficient use and allocation of resources on a energy grid that is more robust and reliable than the status quo. Silver Spring Networks is a firm devoted to the creation of energy network with open standa... More >>

Smart grid technology has been heralded as a way to modernize the nation\'s aging energy system, allowing for more efficient use and allocation of resources on a energy grid that is more robust and reliable than the status quo. Silver Spring Networks is a firm devoted to the creation of energy network with open standards over which smart grid technologies can be developed. <br /> <br />Based upon IP network protocols, Silver Spring Networks acts a network vendor, creating a network infrastructure for any significant energy consuming device, through which smart grid technologies can be employed. John O\'Farrell, Executive Vice President envisions \"a world where every significant energy consuming device will have an IP address - your refrigerator, your pool pump, your plug-in hybrid will definitely have an IP address.\" <br /> <br />Silver Spring Networks thus acts as an intermediary, providing a platform over which third-party vendors and technology partners can provide specific devices or services that work over the network. Current examples of such include software-based monitoring and control applications that work over wireless networks, allowing utilities to meter and manage electricity or water usage, while consumers have access to real-time rate and load monitoring. <br /> <br />Earlier this year in April, Silver Spring Networks announced the formation of its Technology Alliance Program, a series of partnerships with vendors that provide solutions that are interoperable over Silver Spring Network\'s smart grid technology. Current partners include GE Energy, Itron, Comverge, EnerNOC, Arch Rock, Energate, Greenbox Technologies, Invensys, Cisco, eMeter, GridPoint, Itron, and Oracle, among others. <br /> <br />Silver Spring Networks has thus positioned itself well for the potentially explosive growth in the area of smart grid energy solutions. Several energy trends, including rising energy demand and rising prices, or intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar power that require close micromanagement to avoid power shortages, all suggest that Silver Spring Networks is there is provide necessary infrastructure for smart grid solutions to be utilized to address such issues. <br /> <br />Silver Spring Networks also poses itself as an attractive investment, according to Dan Englander of greentechmedia, since greentech firms as Silver Spring Networks \"don\'t require massive capital injections for factory construction, the technology is available now, and the potential consumer impact is massive.\" Many venture capital groups have agreed, with firms Foundation Capital, JVB Properties, and Edison Electric Institute throwing some $70 million towards the company. <br /> <br />With many other smart grid-based firms relying on the proper infrastructure to be in place for their technologies to be used, look to Silver Spring Networks to be positioning itself for when the greentech movement sweeps the nation. << Less

Kijiji, or "village" in Swahili, is a venture undertaken by eBay through its New Ventures Group "to bring a sense of community that is lacking in other local classified sites." Since its inception in 2005, Kijiji has expanded to cover some 1000 cities and localities in 26 countries, launching in t... More >>

Kijiji, or "village" in Swahili, is a venture undertaken by eBay through its New Ventures Group "to bring a sense of community that is lacking in other local classified sites." Since its inception in 2005, Kijiji has expanded to cover some 1000 cities and localities in 26 countries, launching in the United States fairly recently, in 2007.<br /> <br /> With a friendlier and more developed interface than the primary incumbent in the online classified ads segment, Craigslist, Kijiji seeks to engage users on a more personal level, creating a connection with user and leading to increased customer retention and use.<br /> <br /> Revenue is generated through pay-for-premium services: sponsored ads, banner ads, the ability to embed outbound links, among other features. While the United States site has yet to implement many of these fees, the UK site, for example, charges 25 pounds for a job listing. With revenues of $250 million for Q3 of 2008, Kijiji dwarfs competitor Craigslist at a projected $80 million for fiscal 2008.<br /> <br /> eBay executive Jacob Aqraou, who oversees Kijiji, said that "the U.S. is the best launch we have had and we have not put any money into it," and commented about competitor Craigslist, stating that "[Craigslist] went lean and that allowed them to be early when there was no revenue. The site still looks the same as it did 12 years ago. Users expect more. The bar goes up in terms of user interface, trust, and safety." His words have obviously implications about Kijiji's overall strategy with regards to Craiglist, namely the offering of a superior platform and increasing customer engagement.<br /> <br /> Craigslist certainly has enjoyed its status as the dominant and entrenched incumbant, but consumers might be seeking more than what it has to offer, and Kijiji is looking to build upon that opportunity. Look for Kijiji to expand and become one of eBay's marques as its both its visibility and revenues grow.<br /> <br><span class="add_review">On 12/26/2008, Jonathan added:</span><br> An overly hasty glance at compete.com without an understanding of the metrics will show that Craigslist supposedly leads Kijiji in unique pages views by a large margin. However, sites as compete.com and quantcast.com only provide usage statistics for users in the United States.<br /> <br /> Kijiji has pursued its strategy of expanding outside of the United States where Craigslist has been lacking, and is aggressively acquiring leading online classifieds sites of other nationalities as GumTree (UK), OpusForum.net (Germany), LoQUo (Spain) and Marktplaats (Netherlands), among others. Thus, it would be myopic to judge the success of Kijiji based solely upon metrics that only factor in domestic usage, compounded by the fact that Kijiji is a relatively recent entrant into a market with an extremely high concentration ratio from a domestic standpoint.<br /> <br /> Kijiji has done well with its growth strategy, outperforming Craiglist in many non-United States localities, often by large margins. According to Alexa (late Dec. 2008), where Craigslist is the 60th most popular site in Canada, Kijiji Canada is the 12th. Where Craigslist is the 473rd most popular site in the United Kingdom, GumTree (Kijiji's UK site) is 32nd. In the Netherlands, where Craigslist has little real presence, Kijiji's acquisition Marktplaats is the 8th ranked site. In fact, Erick Schonfeld of SeekingAlpha states that in January of 2008, while Kijiji trailed Craigslist heavily in the United States, worldwide, Kijiji had some 21.6 million users compared to Craigslist's 27.8 million.<br /> <br /> Moreover, a look at fundamentals suggests that Kijiji is already outperforming Craigslist as a for-profit business. As noted previously, financial disclosures by parent company eBay have put Kijiji's 2008 Q3 revenues at $250 million, compared to Craigslist's paltry estimated earnings of $80 million for the entire year. For an online service whose only expenses are likely to be administrative and hosting costs, Kijiji also has an advantage from the fact that eBay already has an expansive hosting platform and support group that Kijiji is able to tap into at reduced costs and thus benefit from operational efficiencies of scale – something Craigslist cannot do. Additionally, the desire for profits drive innovation, and when Craigslist isn't trying to make money and doesn't develop the platform, somebody else will.<br /> <br /> It would be myopic and foolhardy to write off Kijiji so early, especially given the backing behind the venture. eBay, with its deep pockets, experienced management teams no stranger to internet economics, and possible operational synergies with existing product offerings, has a lot to gain if Kijiji succeeds. << Less

BitTorrent, Inc., is the company established by the designer of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, Bram Cohen, in 2004. The BitTorrent protocol is a way of harnessing peer-to-peer networks and the redundant distribution of data in order to allow for a faster, parallelizable transfer of files between cli... More >>

BitTorrent, Inc., is the company established by the designer of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, Bram Cohen, in 2004. The BitTorrent protocol is a way of harnessing peer-to-peer networks and the redundant distribution of data in order to allow for a faster, parallelizable transfer of files between clients. Since its inception, the BitTorrent protocol has grabbed headlines of controversial nature due to its widespread use to distribute and share copyrighted materials. <br /> <br /> The BitTorrent protocol, however, is not proprietary, and is in fact an open-source protocol with many implementations by the various companies that develop clients for use with the protocol. BitTorrent, Inc., rather, has three primary business segments closely related to the protocol that it established: the aggregation of content on its own website that can be download through the use of a BitTorrent client, the licensing of a propriety technology called the BitTorrent Delivery Network Accelerator to hosting providers desiring a more efficient content delivery solution, and the sales of the BitTorrent Software Development Kit to hardware manufacturers desiring to integrate the BitTorrent protocol into their respective product offerings.<br /> <br /> Though the firm's brainchild has been meet with tremendous popularity and widespread use, the firm itself has not been as successful, and like many internet entrepreneurs before it, has discovered that monetizing a free technology can prove to be challenging. When technology when first released, BitTorrent, Inc. struck up numerous partnerships with various content distributors, movie studios, and game developers, and the protocol was heralded as the next generation of content distribution. The furor only grew in late 2006 with speculation that BitTorrent would IPO itself in an offering to rival that of eBay, but little, if anything, has yet to materialize on that front. Moreover, BitTorrent's own client for use with the BitTorrent protocol never enjoyed the success third-party offerings as Vuze (formerly Azureus), BitComet, or Transmission, and in fact completed an acquisition of most popular client uTorrent in 2006 to remain competitive.<br /> <br /> With its attempts at commercializing the technology failing fast, and previous investors and venture capital funds pulling back, outlook for BitTorrent, Inc. does not look bright. Very recently, BitTorrent, Inc. rebated some $17 million in funding it raised earlier this early back to investors, and its valuation has been slashed from some $180 million to a mere $35 million.<br /> <br /> While the company may have been genesis of a great technology, it doesn't look like they'll be making much money off it. At the very least, BitTorrent, Inc. will always be remembered for its namesake creation. << Less