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- October
2011
Smart Green VC Khosla Ventures raises new billion-dollar fund
Vinod Khosla is a wise man and smart green investor. Originally from India, Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems, Partner at Kleiner Perkins and, since 2004, Founder and Managing Partner of Khosla Ventures, Vinod is probably the most successful Cleantech VC in 2011 with 3 successful IPOs already. Not afraid of taking big risks, ready to fail in order to succeed, focused on the relevance of the Chindia price (unsubsidised price competitiveness in China and India) and self-defining as venture assistant helping entrepreneurs build relevant companies, Vinod is a big role model for me. Now he has even more money to accelerate smart green startups. That’s awesome, dude, congrats to all of us!
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- September
2011
Cleantech Paradise Going Green Silicon Valley 2011
California here I come. 2 days after our Ecosummit Lounge I will hop on a plane to San Francisco. My target is the Cleantech paradise that Tony Perkins, Founder of AlwaysOn, unites at Going Green Silicon Valley 2011 which takes place on 27-28 September in San Francisco. Having joined Going Green East in March 2010 in Boston, I know what to expect: The best Cleantech VCs and startups the West Coast has on offer, everybody totally wired and inspired to save the world, grow disruptive companies and make big returns on investment.
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- July
2011
ECO11 Cleantech VC Panel showcasing Taylor Wessing, WHEB Partners, Zouk Capital and Climate Change Capital
This new Ecosummit TV episode showcases the views of 3 leading Cleantech VCs and the law firm Taylor Wessing on the hot trends in the Cleantech VC industry. Enjoy Peter Hellich (Taylor Wessing), Joerg Sperling (WHEB Partners), Felix von Schubert (Zouk Capital) and Bruno Derungs (Climate Change Capital), moderated by Jan Michael Hess (Ecosummit), talking about the deals they make and the deals they would like to make.
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- July
2011
Alexander von Frankenberg introduces High-Tech Gründerfonds, Germany’s leading Seed VC
Alexander von Frankenberg, Managing Director of the German seed VC High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), presents the fund at ECO11 and shares his lessons learned during 5 years of seed funding the German High-tech startup ecosystem. HTGF makes every 2nd seed deal in Germany and currently has 18 portfolio firms in the Cleantech industry. At ECO11, 6 HTGF Cleantech portfolio companies were on stage: Entelios, Subitec, ZIM Plant Technology, Next Kraftwerke, Ecointense and Wesustain.
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- July
2011
Bruno Derungs of Climate Change Capital presents Cleantech for Smart Buildings and Smart Cities
Bruno Derungs, Partner of Climate Change Capital Private Equity, talks about Cleantech for Smart Cities and Smart Buildings at Ecosummit 2011. Bruno is now on our Youtube Ecosummit TV channel. Climate Change Capital – I really like the name – is a London-based smart green investor that combines various teams investing in different asset classes including technology companies (private equity) and energy infrastructure (project financing).
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- April
2011
Ecosummit TV – ECO11 – Denis Lucquin – Sofinnova Partners
“You need to master the industry in which you invest,” says the French VC with a plan to help the big chemistry corporates overcome their oil dependence through external innovation commercialised by innovative startups. His name is Denis Lucquin, Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners, one of the most successful VCs in Europe. I was totally impressed by the strategy of his new VC fund focused within Cleantech on the specific sector called Green Chemistry.
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- April
2011
Ecosummit TV – ECO11 – Gina Domanig – Emerald Technology Ventures
Gina Domanig, Managing Partner, Emerald Technology Ventures, is a real pioneer in the Cleantech Venture Capital scene. 10 years ago she raised her first Cleantech fund and can now tell very interesting stories about the lessons she learned during the past decade. At Ecosummit 2011, Gina gave a wonderful slide-free speech sharing her VC experience. Gina points out the significance of managing close relationships with the corporates in the various Cleantech sectors, i.e. the big companies that often buy the products of the startups or, even better, the entire startup company. In my eyes, a real highlight of our agenda and definitely a must-watch episode of Ecosummit TV for investors, startups and corporates.
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- March
2011
Ecosummit TV – ECO11 – Michael Linse – KPCB
It’s the cost curves, stupid! – A cool title chosen for his speech by Michael Linse, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, at ECO11 in Berlin. The cost of production for all major green technologies including PV, Wind, Water, Batteries etc. will further go down. That’s the good news. Driving cost out of the business should be the focus of all Cleantech startups and corporates trying to scale their business and go global. According to Michael, it is also the key parameter for his investment decisions. Later stage deals mean that the technology risk has already been taken out. The next question is how to scale globally as fast as possible. Enter Michael’s KPCB Green Growth Fund.
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