Investment by Europe's cleantech venture capitalists is shifting from energy generation to energy efficiency -- like smart electric meters. The scenic Geneva lakeshore-complete with luxury houses and boutique fashion retailers-seems an odd place to tackle climate change. But in a five-star hotel on the Avenue de France in the center of the Swiss city, clean technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and bankers gathered on June 17 and 18 to do just that. The agenda: Identify Europe's leading cleantech startups and make deals to fund the fight against global warming. Venture capital is now going to projects beyond energy generation. The summit, organized by the nonprofit European Tech Tour, comes at a tough time for the nascent green sector. Global venture capital investment in cleantech, which encompasses everything from solar panels to energy-efficiency lightbulbs, fell by almost half in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period a year earlier, to $1 billion, according to researcher The Cleantech Group. If broader mergers and acquisitions activity is included, consultantcy New Energy Finance calculates that investment in green energy similarly halved year-over-year, to $13.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009. "This year could be considered the first down year for cleantech," says Richard Youngman, Cleantech Group's managing director. "That's not surprising after the growth we've seen over the last six years, but the long-term drivers [for cleantech investment] remain in place."
Investment by Europe's cleantech venture capitalists is shifting from energy generation to energy efficiency -- like smart electric meters.
The scenic Geneva lakeshore-complete with luxury houses and boutique fashion retailers-seems an odd place to tackle climate change. But in a five-star hotel on the Avenue de France in the center of the Swiss city, clean technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and bankers gathered on June 17 and 18 to do just that. The agenda: Identify Europe's leading cleantech startups and make deals to fund the fight against global warming.
Venture capital is now going to projects beyond energy generation. The summit, organized by the nonprofit European Tech Tour, comes at a tough time for the nascent green sector. Global venture capital investment in cleantech, which encompasses everything from solar panels to energy-efficiency lightbulbs, fell by almost half in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period a year earlier, to $1 billion, according to researcher The Cleantech Group. If broader mergers and acquisitions activity is included, consultantcy New Energy Finance calculates that investment in green energy similarly halved year-over-year, to $13.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009.
"This year could be considered the first down year for cleantech," says Richard Youngman, Cleantech Group's managing director. "That's not surprising after the growth we've seen over the last six years, but the long-term drivers [for cleantech investment] remain in place."
