Mar 4 2008
Good Energies, a leading global investor in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry, topped New Energy Finance's ranking of venture capital investors by number of deals in 2007, according to a report just released by the research firm. Good Energies claimed the top spot with 20 publicly announced investments into 19 companies in different sectors and stages of development worldwide. The total value of its publicly announced investments was $100.6 million. Good Energies' investments included solar PV manufacturer Konarka Technologies, wind power developers Everpower Renewables and Sequoia Energy, among other notable investments.
Richard L. Kauffman, Chief Executive Officer of Good Energies, said: "We are focused on renewable energy. It is all we do. We have increased our financial commitment in the last year because we have seen opportunities to advance our mission of sponsoring leading companies and projects that will make a measurable difference in energy transition to a lower carbon world."
Good Energies' investments in 2007 also included environmental forecaster 3TIER, smart glass technology manufacturer SAGE Electrochromics and Solarcentury, the U.K.'s leading solar energy provider.
According to New Energy Finance, investment in clean energy companies by private equity and venture capital firms grew by 34% to $9.8 billion in 2007. The research firm believes this growth was fueled by successful investor exits from previous investments, improved industry knowledge, and increased competition for commercialization-ready opportunities. New Energy Finance is the world's leading independent provider of research to investors in renewable energy, biofuels, low-carbon technologies and the carbon markets. 2007 was the third year New Energy Finance produced its league tables, with record cooperation and disclosure from those in the industry. The result, the organization believes, is a robust data set on which to base the rankings.