Venture Firm Eyeing ‘System Changing’ Startups For Cleantech 2.0

Venture Firm Eyeing ‘System Changing’ Startups For Cleantech 2.0

For nearly two decades, the cleantech sector has been a hot and cold area for venture capital. James Everett and his team at Ecosystem Integrity Fund have a blueprint for Cleantech 2. 0. Back in 2001, according to the Brookings Institute, cleantech investment stood at just $365 million across 59 deals. The pace rose to $6. 65 billion across 385 deals by 2008. VC-backed cleantech bounced back after the 2008 financial crisis, with deals peaking at $7. 5 billion in 649 deals in 2011. But deal flow alone couldn't promise profits. Despite billions poured into cleantech, many start-ups suffered struggles and failures. Competition from cheap shale gas also hurt the economics of solar and wind projects. All told, cleantech VC investors have lost over half of their money, and have scaled back on investment. This sets the stage for Cleantech 2. 0. In spite of the setbacks, a new analysis led by Stanford University highlights that the investments and learnings from the first wave of cleantech have paved the way for more sustainable and durable growth for the industry as investors, government policymakers and entrepreneurs now have more experience and knowledge of developing new technologies for the years ahead. According