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From EnergyBiz Insider — Venture Capital Flood
Absolute dollar figures can be hard to come by, but there's no doubt that renewables and clean tech are growing exponentially as a percentage of venture capitalists' portfolios.
Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), puts the figure north of 4 percent, up from less than 0.5 percent seven or eight years ago. That's an 800 percent increase. And the pace is accelerating. Raj Atluru, a managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of the largest venture firms, estimates that clean tech is the fourth largest venture category among all categories, up from seventh largest just three years ago. In 2006, he says, it accounted for 10 percent of all venture capital investments. Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner in the venture firm Technology Partners, puts the number even higher, at about 14 percent of all venture dollars in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Much of that interest is in alternative fuels, but a significant percent of the dollars and interest are going into solar, energy efficiency, storage, and smart-grid technology. As might be expected, no single reason can account for the surge; rather, it's driven by a confluence of factors - economic, political and social - some specific to the power industry, and some of broad, even global concern.
Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), puts the figure north of 4 percent, up from less than 0.5 percent seven or eight years ago. That's an 800 percent increase. And the pace is accelerating. Raj Atluru, a managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of the largest venture firms, estimates that clean tech is the fourth largest venture category among all categories, up from seventh largest just three years ago. In 2006, he says, it accounted for 10 percent of all venture capital investments. Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner in the venture firm Technology Partners, puts the number even higher, at about 14 percent of all venture dollars in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Much of that interest is in alternative fuels, but a significant percent of the dollars and interest are going into solar, energy efficiency, storage, and smart-grid technology. As might be expected, no single reason can account for the surge; rather, it's driven by a confluence of factors - economic, political and social - some specific to the power industry, and some of broad, even global concern.