In a time when it’s hard to raise funds for cleantech venture capital, Westly Group has closed a $160 million fund, one of the biggest out there right now.
Among the 50 investors in the fund are: Citi; E.ON (the world’s 7th largest utility); and SK Group (the third largest conglomerate in Korea).
As they should be, founder Steve Westly says: "We are more bullish than ever on clean tech. Costs are going down, revenues are going up, and we’re seeing better business models. People have gotten smarter. And corporate investors are replacing pension funds and university endowments – they understand how large this market is," he told Mercury News.
Westly says the fund will invest in high growth companies with revenues as well as earlier stage opportunities that have capital efficient business models.
Steve Wesley, a former California state controller, founded the venture capital group in 2008, and three portfolio companies are already on Nasdaq: Tesla Motors (TSLA), biofuel company Amyris (AMRS), and China Recycling Energy Corp (CREG).
Current portfolio companies include RecycleBank, which has been doing a fantastic job increasing recycling rates across the US, and Revolution Foods, which providing healthy meals to schools.
Some of their recent investments are in Soladigm, which makes "dynamic glass" for buildings and Scientific Conservation in energy management software.
Here is their website:
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