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Venture Capital Investment in Renewable Energy Exceeds $836.1M in Q1 2009
April 6, 2009 by David Feldman · Leave a Comment
We know that the online tech market has been hit hard by the lending crisis, however what has happened to the clean tech sector? Greentech Media released the most recent quarterly data showing that venture capital investment in green technologies totaled $836.1 million in 59 deals in the first quarter of 2009. The numbers are approximately back to 2007 levels.
“Greentech VC investing declined year-over-year, not surprising given the economy,” said John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins. “Still, greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century. This level of green VC investment is not enough.”
Ira Ehrenpreis, General Partner at greentech investment firm, Technology Partners, remarked, “It’s important to put these numbers in perspective. The $800 million of investment this quarter is more capital than has been invested annually for most of the years that we’ve 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.”
“Despite the slump, VC investors remain optimistic about the greentech sector and eventual exits in this space,” said Eric Wesoff, analyst at GTM Research and author of the Greentech Innovations Report, a monthly guide to investments and technology trends in greentech.
Solar continues to be the leading sector in terms of dollars and deals at $356.6 million in 14 deals, followed by energy storage with $121.5 million, and biofuels with $94.15 million. 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.
