July 17, 2013: Cleantech Investment Grows 56 Percent in Second Quarter
Leading Sector by Amount Invested and by Number of Deals Was Energy Efficiency
The number of deals recorded in the second quarter was 214, which was lower (-13 percent) than the near-record-high 246 deals from the first quarter. The tally may rise once all investors have submitted all deals. Of these deals, 54 percent (115) were Series B or later rounds, accounting for 90 percent ($1.58 billion) of all money invested during the quarter.
“President Obama’s Climate Action address has reenergized the cleantech industry, and our i3 data — in addition to the strong performance of Solar City and Tesla — underscores our belief that we are turning a corner,” said Sheeraz Haji, chief executive officer of Cleantech Group. “Recent acquisitions of Waze, Power-One, and ecoATM provide further reason for optimism, and the breadth of private companies generating material revenue is impressive. Alongside these trends, we continue to track increased activity by large corporates. Indeed, the tide appears to be turning in 2013.”
The leading sector in the second quarter of 2013 by amount invested was energy efficiency at $378 million. Energy efficiency also led by number of deals, with 45 funding rounds.
Some of the largest transactions during the second quarter were:
• Bloom Energy, a California-based maker of solid-oxide fuel cells for distributed and on-site power generation, raised $150 million from Credit Suisse and E.ON.
• Blu Homes, a Massachusetts-based designer of green homes including resource-efficient fabrication and integrated energy efficient systems, raised $65 million from Brightpath Capital Partners and Skagen Group at a $400 million post-money valuation. The company indicated that this is likely to be its last private round of equity financing.
• View, a California-based developer of energy-efficient glass technology for buildings formerly known as Soladigm, raised $60 million from Corning, General Electric, and Khosla Ventures.
• Aligned Energy, a Connecticut-based joint-venture of Skanska and Inertech developing advanced energy-efficient modular data center and data center cooling technology, raised $59.8 million from Inertech, Skanska, and One Equity Partners.
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North America accounted for 71 percent of the total venture investment. North American companies raised $1.25 billion, up 74 percent from the first quarter, while the deal count dropped to 136 compared with the first quarter’s 159 (-14 percent). In North America, California again led all states/provinces with $631 million in investment (36 percent share), followed by Texas ($169.6 million, 9.6 percent) and Massachusetts ($103 million, 6 percent).
Publication date: 7/15/2013
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