Overall 2011 was a good year for cleantech in the US but the numbers indicate that there may be a cooling trend in investments for 2012. In 2011 we saw increased investment in green technology compared to 2010, but investment slowed in the fourth quarter.
Ernst & Young reports that US venture capital (VC) investment in cleantech companies increased by 73 percent to $1.1 billion in Q3 2011 compared to Q3 2010, while deals also increased by 36 percent to 76, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource. On a consecutive quarter basis, dollars invested in Q3 2011 is 4 percent above the amount in Q2 2011.
These numbers led Jay Spencer, Ernst & Young LLP’s Americas Cleantech Director to say, “Confidence in cleantech investing continues despite the challenging investment market. We saw significant commitments in energy storage, which reflects a growing corporate focus on proactively managing their energy mix.”
However, Spencer said the 2011 VC investment represented a 29 percent increase from the US$3.8bn raised in 2009. But in Q4 2011, VC investment in clean tech reached US$940.5m with 70 rounds of financing, said Spencer. This was a decrease of 41pc compared to the US$1.6bn raised in Q4 2010.
“Clean tech is still in the early stages of a long-term journey,” said Spencer. “We’ve reached a point where new products and services are ready to be launched, and as these products come to market, we’re seeing renewed interest, innovation and opportunity in clean tech.”
© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
