by Cheryl Kaften
Investors who have shied away from cleantech companies for the past two years haven’t lost interest, they’re broadening their scope into more areas of sustainability, according to a report by Cleantech IQ.
"The definition of ‘cleantech’ has expanded greatly. There is still some perception that when you talk about cleantech, you’re talking about a technology risk on solar, wind, and biomass," Craig Metrick, leader of Mercer’s US Responsible Investment Practice, told Cleantech IQ.
While venture capital has pulled back from those sectors lately, there are plenty of opportunities in energy efficiency, pollution control, water, and waste management – sustainability sectors that support cleantech and advance environmental progress without the same degree of exposure.
Venture Capital firms are also pushing the sustainability envelope further to organic products, vegan foods, transportation platforms, and "cleanweb" products.
BrightFarm builds rooftop gardens and hydroponic greenhouses attached to supermarkets:
Google’s recent acquisition of Nest is another example: Nest’s early venture capital investors are exiting with 15-20X multiples, including a cool $400 million for Kleiner Perkins.
They are taking advantage of the appeal of green investment, without the regulatory and technological ambiguity that’s often associated with renewable energy – that also needs hundreds of millions of dollars and decades to commercialize.
Consider the cautionary tale of Huron River Ventures Partners when they tried to raise their first venture capital fund. The word "cleantech" was the biggest barrier to getting investors on board because it instantly brings to mind images of biofuels and batteries, CEO Tim Streit told Cleantech IQ.
Actually, Huron planned to invest in other kinds of early stage companies, like San Francisco-based Sidecar, whose smartphone app matches drivers with people that need rides. After clarifying these intentions, Huron raised its $11 million from about 50 investors.
Israel-based Terra Venture Partners raised $20 million from a US private equity firm, a Brazilian bank, and strategic investors for a fund that targets "cleanweb" companies – online, software, and mobile technologies that help the environment.
And while NGEN Partners started out in the early 2000s with a mission to fund cleantech, it now invests in these kinds of companies: a mobile phone recycler; a company that builds hydroponic greenhouses at supermarkets and a vegan restaurant chain.
Investments Down
Global investments in clean energy dropped for the past two years to $254 billion from a high of $317.9 billion in 2011, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Because of Japan’s generous feed-in law that country saw an uptick in 2013, but that was offset by decreases in other nations, including the US, China, and the European Union.
Venture capital investments have been down for most industries over the past two years.
But although total investment was down in 2013 compared to the previous year, if you look at compounded growth over the past four quarters it shows investments are rising again – by close to 15% – according to Cleantech Group. Last year, investors regained confidence with the US economic recovery and the return of IPOs.
Energy efficiency remains the biggest focus with $1.3 billion in 188 deals in 2013, 23% higher than 2012, according to Cleantech Group. Interest in solar is down roughly 20% ($115 billion); wind is about the same at $80 billion; and the big drops are in biomass – down 42% (sinking to $8 billion) and biofuels (down 26% to $4.9 billion).
Many see this as more evidence that cleantech is a maturing industry with the same waves and plateaus as other emerging industries. "If you want to worry about what’s happening in cleantech, worry about how the entrenched energy industries are lobbying to undermine pricing for renewables, and not where sources of capital will come from," Dallas Kachan, managing partner at Kachan & Co., told Renewable Energy World.
What About the Industrial Side?
In an interview with Wal Van Lierop, CEO at Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital (another pioneering cleantech investor), he gave us his view on the vast spread of the industry:
"Virtually every large industrial company is these days working on a sustainable innovation strategy. It is comparable to 10 years ago when everybody wanted an Internet strategy. The maturing of cleantech over the past decade and the emergence of cost-effective sustainable solutions will ensure that sustainable innovation becomes the norm in large industrial verticals before 2020."
"Think of oil and gas, power and utilities, chemicals and materials, mining and metals," Van Lierop says. "Penetration of sustainability in the core businesses of these industries will have a tremendously positive impact – a total addressable market of $3 trillion to $4 trillion.
"Cleantech used to be about pushing new technologies into the hands of early adopters who were willing to pay a premium. Now, it provides cost-effective solutions for pain-points in large industries. As such, the future of ‘sustainable innovation’ is bright. And so we expect that soon investors will start pouring much more money into this huge opportunity."
Read our article, Cleantech Venture Capital Homes In On Efficiency.
Here is the Cleantech IQ report:
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