And the Competition Strengthens!

Is competition good or bad? Currently more and more venture capitalists firms and other investors in Cleantech are popping up all over the place! Although this creates more competition for us, its great news that firms are following in our foot steps to invest in Green companies and support the green industry!

Normally in a weak economy new investments are rare to come by, but in the past few quarters more and more investments have been made in green technology. It is great news to learn that even in a weak economy, money is being spent in the CleanTech industry!

The benefits of increased investments in this industry include:

-more media attention in the industry
-more people believe and have confidence in the industry
-sparks interest for potential Green businesses
-more businesses will startup if they know that funding is out there
-competition between VC's and other investors makes for better, smarter investments

Our business plan supports the need for smart decisions. Also, with increased competition, our strategy of reorganizing the start ups will allow our start ups to compete in the increasingly more competitive industry.

Who is Making the Green Change?

It is important to commend the large companies who are making strides to better their company and be more environmentally friendly. The fact that large companies are taking responsibility for their actions shows that this is a huge trend in the market. A number of large companies are making small and large efforts;

1. By continuously developing their supply chain, Nike has made huge strides to be one of the most green and largest companies in the world. They have checks on chemical toxicity, water use, and carbon emissions.

2. Yahoo! is another huge company who makes strides to better the environment. They use energy only from renewable resources. They have also found a way to use 95% less water than most data centers.

3. IBM is another company known for their efforts to be green. They not only better themselves, but help to make their clients more eco-friendly.

The fact that these companies are making strides to perform in the most "green" way possible, gives hope and confidence to smaller firms who are hoping to perform well in this industry. Not only are the companies we invest in required to be developing a product that is CleanTech, but also the small efforts in their day to day business should be green as well. Watching what the large companies are doing on a day to day basis is a great help to many small startup companies.

The Whole Green Spectrum

"Green" companies are often thought to be having something to do with producing energy or using natural resources to produce technology. Such companies that come to mind are having to do with using wind or water to produce energy, recycling in general, or figuring out alternative forms of energy.

These are all popular types of green companies but there are many other types that people have never heard of before. Some of the top performing companies are ones that most people would not think of as CleanTech. A lot of people assume only trash can be recycled but one of the highest performing companies recycles electronics. Another high performing company simply takes used office supplies and recycles it to other start up companies.

Other examples of top performing CleanTech Companies include:
-Sharp Electronics
-Det Norske Veritas
-Applied Materials
-Fat Spaniel

In order to invest in prosperous and potentially successful companies, it is incredibly helpful to watch how other CleanTech create their successful businesses.

Good News!

Some may say that the recent news that of a lack of spending and investing in CleanTech Startups in the last quarter is bad... but it actually opens an opportunity for us to jump on in the next quarter! We are constantly looking for places where the industry is lacking that we can offer our resources. Here are the ways we can and have jumped on these opportunities in the past:

-Investing at times when VC's are not
-Offering restructuring help when other companies are not
-Taking a risk on Green Companies when others see them as too risky


On another note, Government Spending and grant efforts is a huge aspect of our business, as we are a startup as well. In order to invest in these companies we continue to watch government spending on Green initiatives.

Here is a list of current Green Government Efforts by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

-$3.2 billion in energy efficiency & conservation block grants
-$3.1 billion for State Energy Program

These examples of Government spending are hugely important to the growth of our business. A few months ago Congressman John Tierney offered us a grant of $50,000 to support our efforts in investing and growing Green Technology companies. This $50,000 has hugely impacted our business and allowed us to move further with our business. It is only with these government funds that we, as a non profit organization, are able to invest and grow these CleanTech companies.