press releases

European Cleantech Q3 venture investment dips to $144 million (€112 million)

 

Energy investments still lead investor interest with $77 million (€60million)

  • ANN ARBOR, MI, Nov 13, 2006 – Cleantech Venture Network ® researchers reported today that
  • European Q3 venture capital investing in the cleantech category was $144 million (€112million) versus
  • the $268 million (€209 million) invested the previous quarter. Venture capital is defined as startup
  • through growth stage. The energy segment led the way with $77 million (€ 60 million) followed by $35
  • million(€27million) invested in the clean manufacturing and industrial segment and $16 million
  • (€12million) in clean Agriculture & Nutrition companies.
  •  
  • Yeartodate venture investment in cleantech reached a total of $533 million (€416 million) compared to
  • $652 million (€509 million) at the end of Q3 2005, representing an 18% decrease. Energy investment
  • accounted for $405 million (€316 million) compared to $531 million (€414 million) for the same period
  • of 2005 for a 24% decrease.
  •  
  • Over the past two years, European cleantech venture investments have been up and down quarter by
  • quarter but venture investing has been showing an overall upward trend. The larger quarters often
  • included laterstage investments into companies that were preparing to go public. The choppy investment
  • trend also reflects capital constraints in Europe, where institutional (e.g. pension fund) participation in the
  • European cleantech private equity space is less than their North American counterparts.
  •  
  • By contrast, quarter-by-quarter cleantech investment in North America has been rising steadily, with 9
  • consecutive quarters of growth. General partners in North America have faced far fewer hurdles in
  • their efforts to raise cleantech funds but have been stymied by a lackluster IPO market.
  •  
  • About Cleantech Venture Network ® , LLC
  • The Cleantech Venture Network ® LLC is a membership organization providing insight, opportunities, and
  • relationships that catalyze and accelerate the growth of cleantech markets globally. The network defined
  • the cleantech category and segments in 2002 and continues to track and analyze all venture, M&A and
  • IPO deals in North American and Europe to provide investors, executives, government agencies and
  • media accurate and consistent data back to 1999. Over 1,300 affiliate members and 9000 cleantech
  • professionals worldwide take advantage of one or more the many services offered by the Network. These
  • services include the three Cleantech Forums ® per year, research reports, online deal flow, cleantech
  • investment database and investor directory and other publications