Friday, February 3, 2012

Report: Cleantech VC dollars down in 2011 nationally

By Michelle Lang

Venture dollars invested in the cleantech industry in 2011 were a mixed bag nationally, depending on the data used for comparison, but it was enough to keep Massachusetts ranked second in the nation for cleantech investments, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis, taken from Dow Jones VentureSource data.

The data showed the number of deals nationally were flat and the dollars invested were down 4.5 percent compared to 2010 data. In comparison to 2009 data, however, the capital invested showed a 29 percent increase in 2011.

Pulling in the most investments in 2011, the energy/electricity generation sector, boosted by the solar sub-sector’s 91 percent stake of capital, raised $1.5 billion through 71 rounds, which was still a capital decrease of 5 percent compared to 2010. The industry products and services, which includes transportation, took the second highest amount of capital. Energy storage, the sector that claimed top cleantech investment sector in Q3 2011, held third place for the year’s dollars. The energy efficiency sector saw a 29 percent decrease in dollars invested compared to 2010, but its number of deals in both fourth quarter and for the year were higher than any other cleantech sector.

Massachusetts’ cleantech investments – $465.1 million (up 63 percent over 2010) – were second to California’s 67 percent stake of the nation’s cleantech dollars with 26 deals totaling $629.5 million.

Among companies, the New England region’s cleantech transactions were relatively quiet in 2011, with the headlining IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and big-dollar investments stemming from western states.

The Ernst & Young analysis looked at the cleantech industry, broken down into seven sectors – alternative fuels, energy/electricity generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, water, environment and industry-focused products and services.