finance

Xconomy reports that PriceWaterhouseCoopers / Thompson Reuters estimate cleantech VC investments totalled $1bn in the third quarter this year.  Cleantech trailed only biotech and software, at $1.35bn and $1.34bn, respectively.

Total VC investments in Q3 were $7.1bn, so cleantech represented 14% of all VC investment in the quarter, compared to ~19% for both biotech and software.  Also according to PWC, cleantech represented only 7.44% of all 2007 investments, and 5.62% of 2006 investments.   Now in the top 3 of all VC sectors in the US, is it alright to say that cleantech has come of age?  What the hell — is it alright to say that the green bubble has begun in earnest?

cleantech.com reports on China’s new financing from the Asian Development Bank to promote private development of green building projects:

“The Energy Efficient Multi-Project Financing Program is a pilot program designed to help energy end users in China gain access to domestic financing for projects that will boost energy efficiency. It is part of ADB’s Energy Efficiency Initiative, in which the financial institution plans to fund at least $1 billion worth of energy-efficiency and clean-energy projects annually.”

Even though United States VC firms are pouring money into cleantech (over $1.2bn for CIGS panels, more for biofuels, and over $100m for smart grid tech) the ADB’s moves in China signal that the race is on.  (India is also looking to invest 4bn by 2015.)

Of course, this race is a good thing, but for the sake of green-collar American jobs, let’s hope the credit crunch doesn’t distract too many folks in the next year.  As I’ve noted before, the ‘Open South’ is going to be a huge force in the next 20 years, and as NYC and London crumble, the Beijing Consensus is certainly going to get a boost from this whole fiasco.