The Week in Cleantech – Feb. 4 – 10
Last week saw a flurry of activity in the Cleantech sector, with several exciting venture and M&A deals, as well as news regarding new venture funds.
VC deals included big raises in sectors like Transportation (Parkmobile and Hailo), Clean Air (Leosphere and BURN Manufacturing) and Recycling & Waste (Green Waste Solutions and ecoATM), among others.
M&A activity during the week showcased some healthy industry consolidation and strategic thinking on the part of several corporates. One such deal saw Israeli agricultural and energy biotech developer Rosetta Green gobbled up by agribusiness major Monsanto. Just last week we noted Monsanto’s recent high level of activity in clean agriculture tech – most recently its growth equity investment in Synthetic Genomics at the end of January.
Fund news during the week was mixed, as mentions of new cleantech funds raised by Chrysalix SET and Ambienta were offset by VantagePoint‘s concession that it would cease raising its latest $1.25 Billion all-cleantech fund due to lack of interest from LPs. It is the latest data point in the current trend away from cleantech-only funds, as scarce exits have stymied investor and limited partner interest in the sector. Subscribers can check out our 4Q/FY 2012 Quarterly Investment Monitor, available for download from Wednesday 2/13 on i3, for our analysis of this trend’s likely long-term positive impact in the Cleantech sector.
Finally, there were myriad company partnerships formed during the week that suggested strong progress for several venture backed companies, including QBotix‘ link-up with Trina Solar for automated PV installations, as well as now-public Solazyme‘s new $20 million partnership with Mitsui to jointly develop a suite of triglyceride oils for use primarily in the oleochemical industry.
Cleantech Group Forum San Francisco is coming up soon (March 18-20), followed less than a month later by Cleantech Forum Europe in Bilbao (April 16-18). We would love to see you at one or both events. Register today!
