Cleantech Investment Volume Up, Deal Numbers Down in 2011

(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Global investment dollars in clean technologies increased in 2011 from the previous year, but the number investment deals declined somewhat, according to the industry research company CleanTech Group in San Francisco. Clean technologies, as defined by Cleantech Group, include renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as energy efficiency, pollution control, infrastructure and distribution (e.g. smart grid), storage, alternative transportation, biofuels, and related sustainable agriculture and materials development.

Preliminary 2011 results for global clean technology venture and corporate investments totaled $8.99 billion in 2011, an increase of 13 percent compared to 2010. The number of deals, however, declined seven percent to 713. Cleantech Group also notes that about six in 10 of these deals in 2011 (438 or 61%) were made in series B or later investment rounds, which accounted for 85 percent of the dollars invested in clean technologies in 2011. Series B is the second round of funding after seed or initial start-up, which indicates a clear preference for existing rather than new start-up companies.

North American companies received about three-quarters (76%) of the cleantech investment dollars in 2011, with Europe and Israel attracting 14 percent, and Asia getting 10 percent. Investments in North American companies totaled $6.81 billion in 2011, a 30 percent increase compared to 2010. European and Israeli companies however attracted far less in 2011: $1.3 billion, a 42 percent decrease from 2010.

Cleantech Group says solar technology was the leading sector by amount of money invested ($1.81 billion), followed by energy efficiency ($1.46 billion) and transportation ($1.12 billion). Companies specializing in energy efficiency attracted the largest number of deals, with 150 funding investments, ahead of solar (111 deals) and transportation (61 deals). The biofuels and biomaterials sector ranked fourth with 52 deals attraction $1.04 billion in 2011.

Cleantech mergers and acquisitions in 2011 recorded 391 deals and a dollar volume of $41.2 billion, a 153 percent gain over 2010, which Cleantech Group says are record highs. Initial public offerings (IPOs), in the cleantech industries however, drew $9.59 billion, down significantly from the $16.41 billion raised through IPOs in 2010. Of the 51 cleantech IPOs in 2011, 28 came out of China, led by several offerings by large renewable energy corporations such as Sinohydro, Sinovel Wind Group, and Huaneng Renewable Energy.

Read more: Cleantech, Electronics Venture Funding Jump in 2010

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