The Obama Effect: Cleantech Likely to Grow Under New POTUS
Just over a month ago, VC firm @Ventures published a critical report called "What's wrong with cleantech venture capital?" It touched on a number of concerns, such as how there is a lot of late stage funds going after companies with no exit opportunities on the horizon. But, to be fair, it said that the cleantech VC model isn't broken. Indeed, the bloom hasn't fallen off the cleantech rose. Last week, the Cleantech Group reported that while the overall volume of venture deals sank last year, investments in cleantech companies totalled $8.4 billion, up nearly 40% from 2007. In Q3, VCs poured $2.6 billion into cleantech, a quarterly record. In the fourth quarter, they invested $1.7 billion into the sector. I bring all of this up because yesterday I was at the VCJ Cleantech Breakfast in Menlo Park, and saw more than 120 people in attendance, eager to hear the panelists speak.
