A large investment in a renewable energy firm helped Los Angeles-area companies record a 33 precent jump in venture capital funding in the second quarter, bucking the national downward trend, according to research firm Dow Jones VentureSource.

The greater Los Angeles region received $415 million in investment, compared with $313 million in the same period last year.

The biggest investment in the region was $148 million toward renewable energy companies, up sharply from $16 million last year. ESolar Inc., a Pasadena solar energy company that sells power to Southern California Edison, took in $130 million, the second-highest amount raised by a company in the nation during the quarter.

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