Thursday 1st Jul 2010
Press Release
Rise in Cleantech Investments
Global Clean Technology Venture Investment Increases 65 Percent in 1H 2010 Finds Cleantech Group and Deloitte
The Cleantech Group™ together with Deloitte today released preliminary 2Q 2010 results for clean technology venture investments in North America, Europe, China and India, totaling $2.02 billion across 140 companies.
Cleantech venture investment was very similar to the previous quarter ($2.04 billion) and was up 43 percent from the same period a year ago. The number of deals recorded in 2Q10 was down from a record high of 192 in 1Q10, but still represents a strong quarter by historic standards. This completes 1H10, up 65 percent on 1H09.
“In spite of the persistence of wider concerns about the strength and sustainability of the global recovery, the strong flow of investment dollars to cleantech growth companies has continued in 2Q10, with cleantech venture investment in the first half of 2010 edging slightly ahead of the record total recorded during the first half of 2008 [$4.04 billion versus $4.02 billion]” said Richard Youngman, head of global research at the Cleantech Group. “Key to this has been the resurgence of solar, and a high volume of follow-on rounds, including many blockbuster deals, which are, in part, a response to the lackluster and unpredictable state of the cleantech IPO market. Goldwind and Solyndra’s recent IPO withdrawals have been the norm of late, and Tesla’s trend-bucking triumph the exception.”
Corporate activity around cleantech innovation has continued to play an important role in maintaining the levels of investment activity. Corporations are becoming key participants in many of the largest venture and growth capital investment rounds. Strong corporate involvement was evident again in the quarter’s top ten deals: Intel Capital, GE Capital, Shell, Votorantim (Brazilian conglomerate), Alstom (French power and rail infrastructure company) and Cargill Ventures all contributed, the latter two making their first publicly disclosed venture-stage investments in cleantech.
