David Anthony, a cleantech venture capitalist and Managing Director of 21Ventures, has taken his own life according to reports confirmed by Dan Primack of Fortune's Term Sheet.
As per Anthony's website, "David Anthony is an experienced entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and educator. Since founding 21Ventures in 2003, the firm has provided seed, growth, and bridge capital of more than $400 million to over 40 technology ventures across the globe focusing mainly in the cleantech arena. David Anthony sits on the board of a number of 21V portfolio companies including (partial list) Advanced Telemetry, BioPetroClean, ETV Motors, and Variable Wind Solutions. David also serves on the board of directors of several publicly traded companies including Axion Power International, Inc. (OTC: AXPW); Clean Power Technologies Inc. (OTC: CPWE); Entech Solar Inc. (OTC: ENSL); and ThermoEnergy Corporation (OTC: TMEN)."
Anthony had provided a number of contributions to Greentech Media in the past years including this article on solar power markets. I had spoken with him a number of times over the years and he was a serious, thoughtful man with a deep commitment to cleantech and transforming the planet's energy mix.
Primack reports, "But 21Ventures never raised a traditional venture capital fund. Instead, Anthony would identify investment opportunities and then pitch them to a small stable of high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Kind of like a “fundless sponsor” model, except that Anthony did not collect management fees. Instead, his only compensation was in the form of carried interest -- meaning that he only earned income if the investment was a success, even though most 21Ventures deals were in startups that, even in best-case scenarios, wouldn’t generate a return for years."
David Anthony's fund was highly involved with David Gelbaum's Quercus Trust, which had made large numbers of questionable and marginal cleantech investments. Anthony also was involved with cleantech companies in Israel, although the investment activity of 21Ventures has been quiet in the last year.
Primack reports, "To be clear, there is no evidence that Anthony committed suicide due to anything related to 21Ventures. In fact, he recently had experienced some family trauma that offers a much more likely explanation. But in passing we remember, particularly someone who mostly flew under the radar during his too-short life."