Tomorrow’s buzz-heavy companies, today—or that’s the idea, anyway
Each year, a handful of greentech companies become the talk of the town. Some engage in a competitive and oversubscribed fundraising round. Others announce a development partner that makes competitors take notice. Still others grow sales or flop in a make-or-break year.

What follows is a glance into a crystal ball, clouded by uncertainty and qualified by the sources of information -- often interested parties -- with visibility under the hood of 12 buzz-worthy greentech companies across the technology spectrum. (I deliberately left firms that will generate buzz via an IPO -- e.g., Silver Spring Networks and Mascoma -- off the list).

“The reality is that unless a company has opened the kimono and they are actively fundraising and you’ve had time to look at the numbers […], it is hard to really understand what is going on under the hood,” said Evan Lovell of Virgin Green Fund, mixing his metaphors.

Caveats aside, the prevailing view is that the LED market is set to take off in 2012.

Full article.