VC Investing Drops For 2008, But Green Grows
Venture capital investment shrank in 2008 for the first time in five years, going from $30.8 billion in 2007 to $28.3 billion in 2008, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
Through the first three quarters of 2008, VC investments were about even with 2007, but in the fourth quarter the bottom fell out. In Q4'08, $5.4 billion was invested, a 33% drop from Q4'07, and 22% fewer deals were made.
Of the companies that did get funding, alternative energy led the way -- in particular, solar. Nanosolar, a San Jose solar company, took the top spot for 2008 with $299 million in financing.
Of the ten biggest investments made last year, seven were energy companies and the top four were solar companies. Overall, clean tech investment jumped 50% for 2008.
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Do you want to know where your speculative equity money should go? Take a look at where the VC guys are putting their money. This kind of news is proof that the people who provide a lot of the capital for innovation believe in green startups. I wrote an article on my site about investing ideas for the everyday investor if they want to start buildiing a position in green stocks and mutual funds.