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VC Deals: Google's Singh Cassidy, JiWire

Google's loss is Accel Partners' gain as Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has joined the venture capital firm as its new CEO-in-Residence. Does the position include access to a world-class cafeteria?

Accel proudly made the announcement Wednesday, noting that Singh Cassidy used to be Google's president for its Asia-Pacific (APAC) & Latin American commercial operations in both regions. Translation: She spearheaded the group that built the company's presence overseas using a combination of advertisers and partners across 40 domains in 103 different countries.

Prior to her stint at Google, Singh Cassidy said she was co-founder and senior VP of business development for Yodlee.com, a financial services company. She started her Internet career working for Amazon.com and interactive TV provider OpenTV.

If nothing else, Singh Cassidy brings reputation to Accel, although the company's success portfolio includes digital media companies such as AdMob, Etsy, Facebook, Glam Media, Kayak, Actuate, Baidu, Brightcove, Interwoven, JBoss, Macromedia, metroPCS, Real Networks, Redback Networks, Riverbed, Sohu.com, UUNet, Veritas, Webroot, XenSource, and Zimbra. Oh, and there was that investment in Walmart.com.

In other funding news, JiWire said Wednesday that it has raised $11 million in a new round of funding, led by Panorama Capital. New investor Comcast Interactive Capital and previous investor DFJ Frontier also participated. JiWire facilitates advertising through Wi-Fi hotspots, about 25,000 in its current network.

The VC turbines are also working to bolster some power companies. Southwest Windpower this week said it's getting $10 million from an investment pool that includes General Electric, Altira, Rockport Capital Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners, and CTTV Investments, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures.

Southwest Windpower makes small wind turbines that can generate up to 3 kW. For a residential home, the Flagstaff, Arizona-based company said its Skystream product can provide anywhere from 40 -- 90% of the home's electricity.

The company said it will use the case infusion to fund growth in new markets and products. Considering federal tax credits to propel small wind energy growth were adopted last month, Southwest Windpower may have some success beneath its wings soon.

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