BONANZA 2010 NEW ENERGY BUY-IN

2010 second highest on record for cleantech investment; More cleantech companies are getting capital, says US market analysts Kachan & Co.
13 January 2010 (Science/Business)

"The cleantech sector is alive and well, with strong momentum leading into 2011, according to an analysis of investments in 2010, by the US market analysts Kachan & Co.

"In 2010, a higher level of investment prompted a reduction in the size of funding rounds - and that’s a good thing…[because it means more] cleantech companies are now getting capital than…[when they were dependent on] large, exclusionary government stimulus grants and loans that skewed investment towards larger deals…The average global cleantech venture deal size is now hovering around $12 million…[higher than] in biotech…medical devices…and software…"

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"Early stage venture deals have returned in cleantech and there’s been a drop in the number of cleantech follow-on investment rounds aimed at keeping existing companies alive, and an increase in early stage deals with new companies…[This seems to validate] the long term effectiveness of the venture model in cleantech…[I]nvestors worldwide [are] putting innovation capital to work…

"The number of cleantech initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions are up in recent months. And the latest returns on selected cleantech IPOs are much more promising than only a quarter ago…The data show there were a record number of cleantech M&A deals in 2010, evidencing increasing corporate appetite for cleantech companies. Kachan expects this trend to continue in 2011…"

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"Multinationals are increasingly participating as clean technology investors, incubators and acquirers…Japanese companies [Sharp, Toshiba, Panasonic and others] pledged to invest $4.5 billion in cleantech over the next 15 months…[With an estimated available] $3 trillion in cash, the climate is right in 2011 for increased corporate multinational M&A, investment in and purchases from cleantech companies…

"The preliminary 2010 global cleantech venture investment total of $7.8 billion, can, and likely will, be easily eclipsed by corporate investment soon. General Electric alone plans to double spending on energy-related research and development, to $2 billion per year over the next five years."