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Emerald Technology Ventures gears up for third fund
November 25, 2009 - by Lisa Sibley, Cleantech Group
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Swiss venture capital firm Emerald Technology Ventures hasn’t made an investment in a new clean technology company since the end of 2008, but that’s about to change after the ringing in of the new year.
Starting in 2010, the firm—which is focused on investments in clean technologies in the energy, advanced materials, and water sectors—will be into its third fund, with a target size of about €150 million to €200 million ($224 million to $298 million).
Founded in 2000, the company has offices in Zurich and Montreal, Quebec.
Managing Partner Gina Domanig shared details with the Cleantech Group about the firm’s investment strategy, 2010 plans, and thoughts on the outcome of Copenhagen (see Cleantech Group report: COP15 doesn’t matter). Here are excerpts:
Domanig helped found the firm, which has managed more than
€300 million ($440 million) since its inception.
€300 million ($440 million) since its inception.
What trends are you seeing in the cleantech VC sector, on a global level?
There’s a lot of action on actually catalyzing market adoption. In Ontario and China, for example, you see a lot of cleantech-focused programs. In the United States, there are many states vying for production plants and green jobs. That’s all a huge benefit.
What I think you still don’t see is a crystal clear picture of how you make money on the venture capital side. It’s not because it’s not possible. It’s definitely possible. There are a lot of people who haven’t gained their own personal “ah ha” or insight. There are many ways you can lose money. It’s going to take a couple scars for the majority of people who are active in the space to figure it out, like we had to. We were not making money from day one.
Why is it a good time to be investing in cleantech?
You do see technology adoption. You see a huge demand right now. There’s not a day that goes by where you don’t hear about wind parks being built or carbon capture projects being launched. You see a lot of government support mechanisms, which are bridging the gap between the commercial launch of a product and the economic viability—subsidizing the experience curve, and that’s key.
With marine technologies, the Scottish and UK governments are doing a lot to support the projects (see Scotland launches $20M marine power competition). You have the big players stepping up to the plate and being the early adopters, while there are others waiting until it’s economically viable.
We, at Emerald Technology Ventures, have always been big believers in marine technology, but we got into it eight years ago. We were a little bit ahead of the curve.
One of our investments includes Pelamis Wave Power (which manufactures micro marine turbines, which generate renewable electricity from ocean waves). The company has been announcing actual deployments of its full-scale devices (see Pelamis sinks Portugal wave-power project). I sit on the company’s board of directors.
But the thing about marine technology is that each site is different. Certain sites are better for certain types of technology. Pelamis is great for way off shore, while others are better for near shore.
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