At the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit, Steve Westly said his firm, Westly Group, will attempt to raise $100 million for a new cleantech fund that will be formally announced next week. Predicting that at least a dozen cleantech companies will go public in 2010, he added, “It wouldn’t surprise me if we exceeded that.” That could be a good sign for cleantech startups seeking venture capital.
The Westly Group has invested more than $50 million so far in cleantech startups, including some $5 million in electric carmaker Tesla Motors. Now that it’s about to triple that stake in cleantech, the firm is still interested in electric vehicles, as well as smart grid technology, green building materials, recycling and solar power, and opportunities in China. The country holds plenty of opportunity for electric vehicle makers (startup Coda Automotive and Warren Buffet-backed BYD Auto are banking on it), and the market there plays an important role in the road to an affordable EV.
Westly expects the returns on cleantech deals to be lower than the thousand-fold returns on web and IT-related deals.