Clean Technologies Attracting Investors
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Nanosolar Inc., holds up a plastic vial filled with dark, purple liquid -- the secret ingredient behind a new kind of technology startup that's turning heads in Silicon Valley.
In a private laboratory here, Nanosolar scientists are designing low-cost solar electricity cells that Roscheisen submits will make solar power competitive with conventional energy sources.
The purple liquid is a nano-engineered material that "self-assembles" into tiny solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity.
"We're at the threshold of making solar electricity profitable," says Roscheisen, whose firm raised $6.5 million last year from U.S. Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital and other investors. "We're seeing a lot of interest. We're being contacted all the time by investors."
Across the country, venture capitalists are opening their wallets to upstarts that, like Nanosolar, develop "clean" technologies in anticipation of a growing market for products that generate revenue without harming the environment.
In 2003, investment in clean technology ventures rose 8 percent to $1.2 billion while overall venture capital investment fell 14 percent to $18.2 billion, according to the Cleantech Investor Network. The Howell, Mich.-based group defines clean technologies as technologies that allow for more efficient use of natural resources and greatly reduce ecological impact.
Venture capital firms are pouring money into clean technologies related to water purification, agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, recycling, air quality and alternative energy such as solar, wind and hydrogen.
Continue reading this story from the Detroit Free Press:
Clean technology firms attract growing share of venture dollars