Rob Day 07 07 09, 3:12 PM

• 0
• Email
  • Recipient's Email Your Email Send me a copy

  • Thank you!
    Your article has been sent.

  • Error
    There was a problem sending your article.

• Share

Back in the saddle

Over the past week or so, we've gotten the initial Q2 cleantech venture tallies from GTM (85 deals, $1.2B), the Cleantech Group (94 deals, $1.2B), and NEF (note: link opens pdf) ($1.4B), and the picture is that investors are starting to get back into activity again.

Granted, in terms of dollar amounts the activity remains below the pace of a year ago, but the number of deals is comparable to that from 2008, with GTM's Eric Wesoff counting 85 deals around the world in Q2 2009, compared with 350 deals for all of 2008.  In GTM's full Greentech Innovations Report for the quarter, Wesoff notes that while investment activity is rebounding, the quarter didn't see any huge $100mm solar or biofuels deals, which is why the dollars haven't caught back up to where they were. 

The NEF data is a bit dissonant, in that it shows a slight decline from their Q1 2009 total VC dollar tally of $1.8B, but we've talked a lot here on this site about the compounded challenges of trying to get consistent data across different analysts' methodologies and dollars vs. deal counts.  So if nothing else, it's somewhat gratifying to see all 3 tallies somewhat in sync for at least this one quarter, even if their Q1 to Q2 trend lines are a bit off from each other.

Interestingly, both GTM and the Cleantech Group show signs of a bit of tempering of VC enthusiasm for solar, although as always the data is tough to compare without full details (GTM pegs the sectoral subtotal at >$300mm, while Cleantech Group puts it down at <$150mm).  Still, in both cases, the dollar totals slipped a bit for the sector, while sectors like smart grid, transportation and energy storage saw increases.

We'll check back in and do a full comparison after the other tallies come out in a few weeks, but the overall story for Q2 appears to be that cleantech VCs are still being cautious, but are slowly starting to get back into the game.

Speaking of which, I am excited to be taking on a fun new challenge of my own, starting this week.  Thanks to the many of you out there who've sent kind messages over the past couple of days since the news came out...  Looking forward to digging into deals and once again rolling up my sleeves to help clean energy companies grow, in this new context.  Cheers!