Electric Cars Dominate In Clean Technology Venture Capital in First Quarter of 2010
The figures are in for the venture capital investments in the first quarter of 2010 in the clean technology and we have a clear winner - electric cars.
Having grown up watching all kinds of media with electric and flying cars, I can't tell you how disappointed I am that I can't get into my hovermobile now and go for a short flight or that I still have to pay through the nose to buy gasoline for my beast of a car. Well, the idea of a practical alternative vehicle may be coming close to being a reality. While flying cars are still a pipe dream, the idea of an electric car we can all afford and drive is just around the corner.
How can we say this? It is simple. We live in a capitalist economy. Given this, one just needs to follow the money. More specifically, one needs to follow the venture capital money. For venture capitalist investing in clean technology, the trend was clear in the first quarter of this year. The money is headed to electric car development.
The money invested in the clean technology sector grew a nice 11 percent in the first quarter. A whopping 68 percent of the financing rounds were for companies focused on electric cars or components related to them. Two established brands dominated this, but there was a bevy of financing in the form of seed financing, which is a very good sign given the rather rough couple of years we've seen given the economic malaise.
So, who where the big winners? The first was Coda Automotive. It is a California company that makes electric cars. It received $100 million in funding during the first quarter. The money is targeted towards improving batteries and bringing the first model to market this year. Fisker was the second big winner. The electric car manufacturer received $93 million in funding and also scored a $528 million dollar loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a plug in hybrid vehicle.
The first quarter results show venture capital starting to heat up again after a rough few years. Those looking for funding on clean technology business models have a fertile field to sow given the numbers above.