As the worldwide demand for energy increases, and oil prices rise, many venture capital firms have begun to focus on the alternative energy sector. In fact, in June 2005, Pasadena, CA-based solar company, Energy Innovations, raised $16.5 million in venture capital led by Mohr Davidow Ventures. At around the same time, Nanosolar raised $20 million (also led by Mohr Davidow Ventures), solar startup HelioVolt, based in Austin, TX, secured an $8 million investment from New Enterprise Associates, and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers led a $16 million investment in Miasol, a thin-film solar firm. The current focus on energy investments, and particularly clean energy, will hopefully be a true win-win; investors will make a good return on their investments and our environment will be positively impacted. In fact, The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) was recently launched to make attractive investments, but also to provide an engine of economic growth while reducing Californias dependence on fossil fuels. Soon after this $30 million fund was launched, it announced agreements with three leading venture capital firms: Nth Power, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and VantagePoint Venture Partners. While some of the venture capital firms are new to the energy space, Nth Power is not. The firm began investing in 1997 and has over $250 million under management, with investments in energy intelligence, power reliability, distributed generation and related services. Other traditional energy VC firms include EnerTech Capital, founded in 1996. In the foreseeable future, energy and clean energy investments seem promising. Not only must alternatives to high oil and gas prices be combated, but nearly 20 states have already set goals for the percentage of energy sources that must come from renewable sources. As a result, there are many, many buyers for energy products; the challenge is for entrepreneurial companies to invent them. |
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