Cleantech Trends Strong for 2011

The last two years have been tough on young companies that need to raise capital, but 2010 ended strongly and 2011 promises to be even better. Worldwide cleantech investments peaked at $11.8 billion in 2008, then dropped off significantly to $6.8 billion in 2009, but thanks to strong growth during the last quarters of in 2010, the year ended with $8.8 billion in total investment (Bloomberg New Energy Finance). Until the second half of 2010, venture capital (VC) funds had difficulty raising money, and since few companies were sold or had IPOs during the depths of the recession, they weren’t able to collect returns, resulting in many fewer new investments. Instead, VCs made follow-on investment rounds in their portfolio companies aimed at keeping them alive during difficult times. They also piggybacked on U.S. government grants and loan guarantees associated with the Stimulus Bill, which skewed investments into more mature cleantech companies. Deals Flowing Again But in December 2010 there were some major deals: Abound Solar (thin-film) raised $110 million; Opower (energy management software) raised $50 million, and France’s Europlasma (waste to energy) raised EUR 25 million. In the early days of 2011, VCs have already made some important investments, boosting […]

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