Monday, April 21, 2008

Siemens VC arm adds clean tech focus led by Emmons

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

The Boston office of Siemens Venture Capital, the private equity arm of German networking and technology giant Siemens AG, is moving into the clean tech business, and has hired former Massachusetts Green Energy Fund partner Eric Emmons to lead the effort.

The appointment expands the local Siemens Venture Capital presence, which has been focused on life sciences investments, but also adds a global, corporate identity to the growing local clean tech investment community.

"The advantage of having the Siemens worldwide network and sales channel is incredible," said Emmons. "I think I have a much larger team behind me now, and it is my job to present that opportunity (to investments)."

As part of the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, Emmons invested in a number of local clean tech companies, including Konarka Technologies Inc. of Lowell and Protonex Technology Corp. of Southborough, in which he also had invested when he was at Brookline-based venture capital firm Commons Capital.

Since its inception in 2005, Siemens Venture Capital has invested in more than 100 companies, including local firms Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Polychromix Inc. of Wilmington and Chantry Networks Inc. of Waltham, which was acquired by the VC group's parent, Siemens AG, for an undisclosed amount in 2005.

According to Sabine Zindera, a spokeswoman for Siemens Venture Capital's home office in Germany, the firm has been investing in clean tech since is was first launched in 1995.

The addition of Emmons puts Siemens Venture Capital among a growing number of New England-based investors in clean technology, though it is one of just a few corporate investment arms in the area with such a specialized focus.

Last year, private investors put a total of $306 million into 15 local clean tech companies, according to a Dow Jones VentureSource report. Of those deals, only three reported corporate investors: Konarka's $45 million round (which included Chevron Corp. and Eastman Chemical Co.); A123Systems Inc.'s $40 million round (which included GE Energy Financial Services, Motorola Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.); and Great Point Energy's $100 million round (included The Dow Chemical Co. and three energy companies).

Dave Rodriguez of Silicon Valley Bank, which announced the formation of a clean tech practice earlier this year, called the move by Siemens Venture Capital "interesting" and said he wouldn't be surprised to see other corporations and organizations follow suit.

"A lot of money is trying to go after the space now, so there are a lot of non-VC groups coming in," he said.