Monthly Archives: May 2008
There are no more good solar deals
OK, gross overstatement in the title for this column, admittedly intended to grab attention.
But something that’s been becoming clear for some time now, and was reinforced for me at yesterday’s fun Greentech Media PV vendor showcase, was that the innovation backlog and the overwhelming VC interest in the sector over the past few years have [
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Some scattered thoughts on a Friday
First of all, comes the news today (from Jonathan Shieber at VentureWire) that Element has done a first close on their latest fund at $270mm, and that it’s likely they’ll “fly past” their $400mm stated target. A very good example of how the sector continues to shift toward later stage: One LP (LACERS) [
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FloDesign, BrightSource, and GreenFuel
Winning both the Ignite Clean Energy and the Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize recently, wind turbine innovator FloDesign is on a roll, and apparently they’re closing in on a new round of financing, with Kleiner putting in a term sheet.
Solar continues to be on a roll, with BrightSource Energy announcing a new $115mm round of financing. [
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Greentech Media, Gevo, and Genomatica
Three interesting deals announced today:
(Self-promotion alert) Congrats to Greentech Media on their $2.75mm Series B. EGORA Holding and the MA Green Energy Fund co-led the round, which also included existing investors Lightspeed and Northpoint Private Equity, and with new investor King Hill Capital also joining in. Have to say, I’m impressed with the progress the [
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?Hokum? and the decline in early-stage cleantech VC
Ran across this interesting article on Forbes.com full of useful tips for investors who “know that human-caused global warming is hokum.” I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve seen the word “hokum” written this century. The best line refers to the “clueless U.S. venture capital community”… “throwing their investors’ money at futile chimeras based [
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