CleanTech Venture Capital Tops $2 Billion

(Dow Jones) Global venture capital investment in companies that offer renewable energy and other environmentally friendly products and services topped $2 billion in the second quarter, according to a survey by the Cleantech Group.

At $2.02 billion, second-quarter clean-technology venture capital investment was in line with the amount invested in the first quarter, about $2.04 billion, and up 43% from the same period a year ago, said Cleantech Group, which worked with Deloitte on the survey.

The investments were made in 140 companies, down 27% from the record-high number of deals in the previous quarter.

"In spite of the persistence of wider concerns about the strength and sustainability of the global recovery, the strong flow of investment dollars to cleantech growth companies has continued in [the second quarter]," said Richard Youngman, head of global research at the Cleantech Group.

Solar companies snagged a total of $811 million, the largest amount of venture-capital investment, followed by biofuels companies with $302 million, smart-grid companies with $256 million and energy efficiency providers with $147 million.

The largest deal was a $175 million round for California-based solar-panel maker Solyndra, followed by solar-thermal power developer BrightSource Energy, also of California, which raised $150 million.

California biotech firm Amyris Biotechnologies raised $108.8 million and biorefinery company Virent Energy Systems of Wisconsin raised $46 million.

Nualight, an Ireland-based developer of energy-efficient low-emitting diode lighting products for refrigerated displays in food retail, raised $11.4 million

Of the total amount raised in the quarter, U.S. companies raised $1.46 billion, European or Israeli companies raised $476 million, Chinese companies raised $30 million and Indian companies raised $59 million.

Nineteen clean-technology companies went public during the quarter, raising a total of $2.31 billion, with California electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors Corp.'s (TSLA) June 29 IPO accounting for $226 million, or nearly 10% of the total amount, Cleantech Group reported.