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MHT's Cleantech Forum
Alternative energy startups are attracting more and more first-round deals in New England, prompting investors to look even harder for deals, and the region’s share of alternative energy deals nationwide is rising, although not as fast as some analysts would like.
Local investment in clean technology companies rose from four deals worth a total $11.9 million in the first quarter to six deals worth $97.6 million, according to just-released data. While a large percentage of the monetary leap in the second quarter came from one deal — Portsmouth, N.H.-based Powerspan Corp.’s $50 million round — industry insiders say the most significant data point is the number of Series A rounds completed in the region, a strong indicator of cluster growth.
Tim Davis, managing director of Shelburne, Vt.-based FreshTracks Capital, was part of one of the local Series A deals — Framingham-based SolarOne Solutions Inc., which won $1.5 million — and said the deal flow is indicative of a period of invention and innovation in the industry unlike in the past. “It is the first time in my business career where there has been an opportunity to make money in the clean-tech sector, and the cycle could last for years,” he said.
In Q2, three of the six deals in the region were first-round deals, tying for the second highest total in the country, according to the data from Topline Strategy Group of Newton and commissioned by the New England Clean Energy Council.
But while Jonathan Klein, the founder and general partner of Topline Strategy Group, said the data is cause for optimism, it does not mean the region’s clean-tech sector has reached its goal of becoming the biggest cluster in the nation. As a percentage of all clean-tech investment in the nation, New England’s second quarter came in at about 12 percent of deals nationwide, up from the first quarter’s 9.9 percent, but down from other quarters of the past year.
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