US venture capital investment in cleantech and renewable energy exceeds $836.1m in Q1 2009

1 April 2009

Venture capital investment in clean energy totaled $836.1m in 59 deals in the first quarter of 2009, according to a recent report, with numbers approximately back to 2007 levels.

Solar continues to be the leading sector in terms of dollars and deals at $356.6m in 14 deals, followed by energy storage with $121.5m, and biofuels with $94.15m. While smart grid and energy-efficiency investments have not jumped, as the billions of dollars of stimulus funding for the smart grid percolates into the market, an uptick is expected in this sector.

At least 14 of the 59 deals in the first quarter of 2009 were early stage, either seed or Round A. Round A and seed investments dominated the automotive and transportation sectors, with seven of the nine rounds being early stage.

Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner at greentech investment firm, Technology Partners, said, ‘It’s important to put these numbers in perspective. The $800m of investment this quarter is more capital than has been invested annually for most of the years that we have been investing in the cleantech sector. We still see a lot of money flowing into the sector, but investors are getting more discerning and are concentrating investments into the best companies.’

Erik Straser, partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures added, ‘Cleantech enjoys favorable tailwinds even in this challenging time. In the first quarter, quality companies continue to raise capital albeit with longer fundraising processes and through the Stimulus Plan we see a potent programme of incentives and loan guarantees to accelerate adoption of these critical 21st century technologies.’

Copyright © 2009 newnet

Tags: biofuel, geothermal, policy, smart grid, solar, venture capital, wind

This story was published on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 5:30 pm and is filed under knowledge. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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