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Google admits VC rumors
March 31, 2009 - by Emma Ritch, Cleantech Group
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has finally admitted there is validity to the long-standing rumors of a dedicated venture capital arm at the Internet giant.
Google has officially launched the VC fund, Google Ventures, with about $100 million to invest in technology startups in in software, cleantech, biotech, health care and the Web.
In 2007, Google said it planned to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy over the next few years, creating a research and development initiative called Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, or RE<C, to produce a gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal.
But even before creating its venture capital fund, Google has handed out millions to develop or support clean technologies. Some of its investments include:
- $15 million into stealth wind-power startup Makani Power.
- more than $10 million in investments in enhanced geothermal systems: $6.25 million into AltaRock Energy and $4 million into Potter Drilling.
- $2.75 million into Austin, Texas, battery developer ActaCell and Carlsbad, Calif.-based electric car maker Aptera Motors.
- $10 million into Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar and $10 million into Oakland, Calif.'s BrightSource Energy, both developing solar thermal technologies.
Those investments came from Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org. But from now on, Google Ventures will oversee the company's VC investments. So far, the fund has already put cash into Silver Spring Networks.
Response is likely to be overwhelming, especially considering the current limited capital availability. Last time Google put out a call for proposals, it received more than 10 times as many RFPs as it expected. Its $10 million plug-in hybrid request for proposals in 2007 drew more than 300 responses.
Copyright © 2009 Cleantech Group LLC. All rights reserved, including right of redistribution.
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This is great news for
Submitted on April 7th, 2009 by Robb Henshaw (not verified)This is great news for Silver Spring, and for the industry as a whole. Google continues to validate the smart grid and energy monitoring market, first with its introduction of PowerMeter, and now it has validated smart meters and the smart grid. With PowerMeter, Google has validated the valuable role of energy monitoring in empowering end users with the information they need to take control of their personal energy consumption. With the investment in Silver Spring, it has also thrown its weight behind the smart metering business as well.
While smart meters and the smart grid are a great step towards more efficient, integrated utilities delivery, we need to keep in mind that this is not the end game.
While the smart grid is certainly more efficient, it is still a separate walled garden that does not integrate with important services, such as renewable energy. Eventually, the smart grid will need to evolve and embrace the openness of renewable energy systems, which already have the capabilities to sync and integrate with many other renewable energy systems via open energy management solutions.
I work with Fat Spaniel -- www.fatspaniel.com -- one of the companies that designs these open energy management platforms. We're already working with thousands of energy systems across more than 15 countries to help them monitor and manage all of their renewable energy systems from one central platform. This increases the efficiency, performance and production of these systems significantly.
And now we're working with leaders in smart grid technology, too, to help move the industry forward. We look forward to the day where the walls are broken down between traditional utilities and renewable energy systems, so that all can be managed and monitored via one integrated platform -- which will not only maximize the production and efficiency of these systems, but also make them far more cost effective.
And that's the final point I think we all need to keep in consideration -- how do we achieve great systems like these in a cost effective manner? In today's economic climate, and with significant amounts of stimulus money being proposed for the advancement of these projects, it is no longer enough just to be green. We need to be able to pair eco responsibility with fiscal responsibility, and open energy monitoring helps achieve that.
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