Tesla Motors

The Great, Fake Lithium Supply Scare

Posted on by brettalan

“But there’s not enough lithium for all those batteries- and now you’ll switch dependency to a few lithium supplier countries!” That is the claim less informed journalists and hacks often make when they need a counter point to balance their first article on the emerging, electrified transportation sector. Why do we care? Because if true would significantly affect the battery, transportation, grid storage and electronic appliance sectors. Let’s try a fact check:

1) Claim: Dependency on 2-3 countries for lithium (similar to oil dependency)
Fact: False. This table from the USGS best answers this claim:

Country Reserves (000’s ton Li) Reserves Base(000’s ton Li)
Argentina 2,000 2,000
Australia 170 220
Bolivia NA 5,400
Brazil 190 910
Canada 180 360
Chile 3,000 3,000
China 540 1,100
Portugal NA NA
USA 38 410
Zimbabwe 23 27

Plus, ore deposits in these plus other countries bring the total to over 17.1 million tons of reserves.

2) Claim: Lithium is the sole material these sectors must have to advance.
Fact: Yes and no. Shorter term most known batteries for next gen autos and electronics will use lithium (bar the also popular nickel metal hydrides.) Longer term- let us not ignore 15 start ups that are readying ultracapacitor break throughs, 27 manufacturers and 29 other companies that have recently developed ultracapacitor technologies plus 52 research institutions working on advancing ultracapacitor technology. We do concede however that lithium will play by far the largest role for at least the next 15 years.

3) Claim: All of the suppliers in the world won’t be able to keep pace with demand & thus prices will skyrocket.
Fact: There are an estimated 17.1 million tons of contained Li in reserves worldwide. In 2008, total global demand was 100,000 tons and of course projected to grow significantly. Lithium can be recycled. Do the math with your own assumptions and it appears we have a few years before supply concerns arise. One may even want to account for new, future reserves of Li to be discovered.

Additionally- advances in nanotechnology as noted here, here and here are making the current battery chemistries that do incorporate lithium much more powerful, economic and robust.

Let’s make money: 77% of lithium carbonate currently comes from 3 companies which are SQM of Chile, Germany’s Chemetall and FMC of the USA. Talison Minerals, a private Australian firm, is the largest spodumene producer and accounts for about 23% of global contained lithium. However, only 15% of this production is sold into the lithium chemical markets via Chinese lithium carbonate converters. (Special thanks to Dundee Capital Markets for the above research, “Lithium- Hype or Substance?” October, 2009. )

Conclusion: If you are bullish on the technology advancing, you likely believe the improved economics offered by advanced lithium batteries will enable stronger investments in the related sectors of grid storage, consumer electronics, military applications and of course transportation. The sky is falling claims should not play a role in any related investment decisions.

Which way, Toyota?

Posted on by brettalan

If everything goes according to plan, Toyota will make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles available to private buyers within six years. The company that pioneered the hybrid, made it popular, economical and sexy- is now moving forward with fuel cell vehicles as well as a plug in version of the Prius. Is Toyota now advancing from their comfortable lead with hybrids to the next level? A closer look at comments by Toyota executives may show another story:

Koei Saga, managing officer of the Toyota Motor Corporation said in January, 2010: All-electric vehicles (EVs) are best as “very small commuter-type vehicles” and that long-range EVs are only possible “if we forget about battery life and if we forget about the cost incurred for replacement of those batteries. In my personal view, I think we will never abandon the internal-combustion engine.”

Ok, but Toyota is planning a plug in version of the popular Prius within the next few years. Plug-ins are of course a close family member of the EV.   The plug in Prius will be the first and ONLY of the Toyota family (including Lexus) to use lithium and not the less efficient, less powerful nickel metal hydride battery. While other companies in the market charge full speed ahead with lithium ion technology (Fisker, Tesla, Nissan, Volvo & more) Toyota has been very reluctant to embrace lithium ion technology expressing doubts about reliability.

But Toyota’s core competency in next generation automobiles is the traditional hybrid. And just this month Toyota announced it will increase production from 500,000 hybrids/year in 2009 to over 1,000,000 by 2011. “Toyota plans to add about 10 new hybrid models in the next few years to its existing lineup and to increase the number of sites where it can assemble hybrid models, the Nikkei said without citing sources. For the foreseeable future, the focus of Toyota’s (low-emission car) strategy will be on hybrids, not electric or fuel-cell cars, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Kazaka Securities, adding the production volume reported by the Nikkei was in line with his expectations.”

Now- seeing this hybrid strategy- take a look at these 2 quotes from Bill Reinert- the Toyota manager of advanced technology in the US:

1) “I think you’ll see that for the next 10 to 20 years that a hybrid … is probably about as green as you can get. I would say within 10 years, that hybrids might be at 10-per-cent market share. Plug-ins are a very small subset of that. Electric vehicles are a smaller subset of the subset.”

2) “One hundred miles covers most daily trips but not all,” he says. “How many people can afford a specialized car that can’t be used on vacation?”

Reinert is referring to the Nissan Leaf- which will be released as early as December 2010 in Japan and the US. Nissan’s director of product planning, Mark Perry, sees an ulterior motive in Reinert’s skepticism. “Our friends at Toyota have invested in hybrids,” he said “and they want to get a return on that hybrid investment.”

“Still- Reinert says EVs could experience a five-year bubble, like solar panels during President Carter’s term in the late 1970s. If budget cuts force governments to end subsidies, only a handful of EVs could be left standing in the market. Ghosn says competitors are trailing Nissan in EVs, so naturally they’re going to play down the technology’s prospects. They cannot say, ‘we’re forecasting a 10 percent market share for EVs and, by the way, we have nothing, he says.”

Is Toyota disparaging plug ins and full electric vehicles to further promote the brand that has helped the firm gain additional market share? Perhaps Toyota sees their rival Nissan attempting to leap frog the hybrid market and skip forward to full electrics. What about the Prius plug in program and the fuel cells? Are these real programs or merely demonstration projects?

The modern hybrid is a technological innovation that many consumers love. It however is not perfect and offers modest efficiency with room for improvement. The hybrid is also widely considered a “bridge” technology to the holy grail which is an efficient, economic full electric vehicle.

Driving 100 miles/charge, as the Leaf and Tesla Roadster offer, is not the best an EV will ever offer. The Tesla Model S will cost just under $50,000 and travel up to 300 miles on a charge but is also $50k and yet to be released. However while the battery issues are well known, and well discussed, most expect these to improve over time in large part to the economies of scale first created by hybrids. Perhaps Toyota is hoping this bridge technology lasts a little longer than do their competitors who are now about to pass them up in the fast lane. It’s unclear what their intentions are, but as the industry aggressively tackles EVs and Plug Ins, Toyota may want to take a clear stance beyond hybrids and show commitment.

Energy Storage Notes

Posted on by brettalan

EEStor still not producing– EEStor CEO Dick Weir had mentioned that a prototype would be released in the Q4 of 2009 to their partner Zenn Motors. Because Q4 09’ has passed and no announcements have been made- well let’s assume for now another deadline was missed. EEStor fans around the world are yet again let down. The ultra capacitor from EEStor will either prove to be one of the greatest technological leaps in recent history ($250/kWh, 300 lbs. for 50 kWh), or one of the greatest corporate hoaxes. Also, check out this EEStor timeline:  EEStor Timeline

Panasonic scores the Tesla contract–Tesla which famously claims to be battery agnostic and eager to ride the technology curve forward just signed a deal with Panasonic to exclusively provide all batteries- for now. The change allows Tesla to source from just one supplier (less testing work to do) and to change chemistries to Lithium Nickel from Lithium Cobalt- a slightly superior chemistry for automotive applications. The Tesla Model S is also expected late 2011/early 2012.

Ford moving towards LGChem? LGChem may have scored a contract with the other big American manufacturer (in addition to the GM Volt contract) as a report out of Korea announced that Ford selected LG, and not its current supplier Johnson Controls Saft to supply their secondary cells (future plug in vehicles.)

Ener1 takes a small hit: Ener1 announced yesterday in an 8-k that talks with Fisker to supply the battery for the Karma are off for now, but “remain open to exploring possible future business relationships pertaining to other potential Fisker programs.”

This poses the question, despite having possibly superior battery technology, is there no room for the start ups (A123, Ener1, Valence) to become an established player in one of the largest, growing segments in CleanTech? We could speculate that one day these will become IP plays, but both A123 and Ener1 have established or are setting up manufacturing facilities. To be continued…

There's room for a baby seat in the back row!

CleanTech Investing in 2009 & 2010

Posted on by brettalan

356 investments in CleanTech occurred in 2009, a new high. However the dollar amount is down to $4.85B from $7.6B in 2008 over 350 deals comparatively, according to a new report from GreenTech Media. The downward trend over more deals may reflect the global capital markets as much as it does the CleanTech sector itself. Or, the optimist could point out that overall investment was nearly $5 billion in spite of the global economic crisis!

According to several VC firms spoken to on a recent trip to Silicon Valley by the staff of this blog, investors are seeking less capital intensive opportunities while seeing an influx of opportunities. Partnering with firms that have smaller capital needs, VCs may play a more significant role in their management and development, while lessening the potential for large, future capital re-investments. This trend may in part be a result of the challenge to raise capital most funds are facing as well as their preference to maintain control.

Source: GreenTech Media

The solar sector is generally viewed as capital intensive, but despite this was the largest sector accounted for in 2009 investments with 84 deals over $1.4B. Biofuels was second, and energy storage, smart grid and automotive rounded up the top CleanTech sectors. Water now is on the radar with $130MM over 33 deals.

Things to look for in 2010:

1) Codexis IPO? Tesla Motors IPO? Solyndra IPO? (all 3 have reportedly filed)
2) Will oil price fluctuations help CleanTech?
3) Will a recovery of the capital markets occur to help encourage the flow of seed money?
4) Introduction of more electrified automobiles effect on energy storage and transportation (many new models expected this year)
5) And much more! (water, smart grid, government mandates, materials and infrastructure)

(CMEA Ventures invested in A123, and is also invested in Codexis and Solyndra- a nice, potential 3 firm IPO streak for 2009-2010!)

Top 10 cleantech stories of 2009

Posted on by matthewlim

In no particular order, here are my top 10 cleantech stories of 2009. Any other interesting stories that you think should be on this list?

1. Copenhagen Accord: From Hopenhagen to Nopenhagen
The widely anticipated UN climate talks at Copenhagen in Dec 2009 ended with a whimper. After spending much time haggling about the main issues, world leaders could only come up with a kind of letter of intent. In fact, it was US President Barack Obama who brokered the final deal with China, India, South Africa and Brazil. Europe, which was left out, was apparently angered with this move. For now, the goalpost has been shifted to Mexico in 2010.

2. Global Cleantech Stimulus
Though we’re facing the toughest financial crisis yet, several governments around the world managed to announce multi-billion dollar stimulus packages for the cleantech sector, underscoring the importance of the sector to deal with climate change and energy supply issues. US, China, South Korea, Japan, EU, Germany, Australia and UK are among the biggest contributors.

3. A123 Systems IPO Soars
Lithium ion battery company A123 Systems was clearly the star of cleantech IPOs this year, with its shares soaring more than 50% on the first day of trading in Sep 2009. A123 Systems has not made any money, yet its stock price is still trading above its offering price with currently $2 billion market cap, even though Chrysler cancelled its electric vehicle plans which included A123 batteries. Doesn’t this remind you of the tech boom in the late 1990s? More IPOs are expected to come with Solyndra already filed for IPO in Dec 2009 while we’ll just have to keep guessing when Tesla Motors, Silver Spring Networks and Codexis will make their debut.

4. Khosla Ventures Raises $1.1 billion Cleantech Funds
Even as VC/PE cleantech investments slumps in 2009, Khosla Ventures raises the bar with its $1.1 billion funds raised in Sep 2009. It was the largest amount raised by a VC firm since 2007 and the largest first-time fund raised since 1999. This was also the first time Khosla Ventures has raised funds from outside investors which included the CalPERS. It was a rare feat to raise a fund of this size and Vinod Khosla has definitely proved it.

5. Cleantech Investments Shift from Solar to Energy Efficiency
Indeed 2009 proved to be tough on solar companies where declining orders, excess inventory and project financing problems were accompanied with massive layoffs. While Spain’s removal of government subsidies and the financial crisis contributed to the solar slump, China continues to provide state funding to the Chinese cleantech firms via low-interest loans from big state banks to fund their growth. It is no surprise that investment is seen shifting from capital-intensive cleantech such as solar and wind to less capital-intensive cleantech such as energy efficiency, storage, transportation and smart grid sector. Have you heard of the Jevons Paradox – the more efficient we become in our use of energy, the more we will use? Ironically, energy efficiency may lead to more energy consumption as the cost of energy resource reduces.

6. Electric Vehicles: Electric Dreams Come True
It’s no doubt that Obama’s stimulus package has jolted the US electric car industry into life. Anything from electric vehicles, fuel cells, battery technologies, hybrid vehicles to charging stations have turned into golden opportunity for investment. Even the Big Three, GM, Ford and Chrysler were pressured by the US government to make electric cars. The stakes are high here, as we look forward to reduce oil dependence. Yet this has caused another “gold” rush, i.e. rare metals which are important components in making the fuel cells and batteries and China is the main producer of rare metals. Meanwhile, expect the Japanese Toyota and Honda to continue to lead in the hybrid car sector.

7. Biofuel Flights Sizzle
With biofuels craze fizzling out this year, a good news from the industry appeared. Biofuel flights were tested successfully by 3 different airlines this year. In Jan 2009, Continental Airlines tested flight with 50% jet fuel, 47% jatropha, 3% algae in 1 engine (the first to use algae). In the same month, Japan Airlines tested flight with 50% jet fuel, 50% biofuel (of which 84% is camelina, 16% jatropha, less than 1% algae; the first to use camelina). In Nov 2009, KLM demonstrated the first passenger flight with 50% jet fuel, 50% camelina. Previously, Virgin Atlantic was the first to test flight with biofuel mix with 50% jet fuel, 20% mix of coconut and babassu oil in Feb 2008 (some people were mocking Richard Branson at that time!) while Air New Zealand tested flight in Dec 2008 with 50% jet fuel, 50% jatropha (the first to use jatropha). No doubt, we will see more of these biofuel flights realizing in the future.

8. Algae is Oil’s Best Friend
It seems like algae is the new biofuel. Exxon Mobil invested $600 million in Synthetic Genomics, a biotechnology company founded by none other than the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, in July 2009 to produce fuel from algae. BP, already an early investor in Synthetic Genomics, invested $10 million in Martek Biosciences in Aug 2009. Though it is applauding to see oil companies to look at alternative energy sources, Exxon Mobil’s latest $31 billion acquisition of XTO Energy, the largest natural gas producer in US, in Dec 2009 is a bet that alternative energy is not viable enough to meet US energy needs for the next few decades while hoping that the cleaner fossil fuel will reduce possible carbon tax in the future.

9. Smart Grid Gets Smarter
The smart grid has been hailed as the electricity Internet and it is such a big play that even the big IT players IBM (via its IBM Venture Capital Group) and Cisco are eyeing for a piece of it. In Obama’s stimulus plan, it calls for the creation of a smart grid and 40 million smart meters to be deployed in American homes. Smart grid may be the largest cloud (computing) and expensive but it will be lucrative for smart grid players. Silver Spring Networks, GridPoint, Trilliant, eMeter, Grid Net and SmartSynch are just some of the players that should benefit from the stimulus.

10. Water Splashes With Osmotic Power and Reverse Osmosis Desalination
In Nov 2009, Norway’s state-owned power company, Statkraft opened a prototype osmotic power plant which is the world’s first that generates energy by mixing fresh water with sea water. The idea of generating power from osmotic pressure gradients is actually an extension of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. RO desal is used for water and wastewater purification, and such large plants are usually found in Middle East nearby power plants where they can easily get their electricity needs from oil. While the Middle Eastern plants consume oil to generate power for its desal process, Norway’s plant generates power from its desal process. I wish I could say much more for the water space but it is noteworthy that Kleiner Perkins has made its first water-related cleantech investment in APT. Hopefully we will see more VC investments in water-related cleantech next year.

Tesla Motors rumored to IPO soon

Posted on by brettalan

The company that made electric vehicles cool again and dispelled the ugly golf cart stereotypes is rumored to file for an IPO very soon according to a recent Reuters report. What makes this CleanTech startup unique from say the recent A123 Systems IPO? Tesla is currently profitable! Profitability is one way to counter the IPO risks noted in this well blogged article about Goldman Sachs and their IPO business.

Tesla is on a mission to prove that Silicon Valley can do what Detroit, Tokyo and Frankfurt cannot. While some may think their Tesla Roadster (costs approx. $109k), which has a range of approximately 220 miles and Ferrari like performance, is a toy for the rich- a new Tesla Model S is in the works to dispel this theory and open the company to those with a smaller budget. The Model S will cost around $50,000, have 4 doors and appear similar to a nice Lexus, but more beautiful in my opinion. It also will not have any tailpipe emissions and will cost about $2 to power for 300 miles.

While Tesla’s automobiles are an evolutionary step as far as design, production and backing- they will nonetheless need to compete with companies like Nissan, GM, Fisker  and Ford who all have both government backing, and either an EV or Plug-in EV in the works. Along with several battery makers including A123 Systems, Ener1 and Johnson Controls, Tesla received $465MM in low cost loans from the US government to help spur development. It is interesting to ponder whether or not the market for efficient automobiles will prefer plug in electrics, pure electrics or if it is large and wealthy enough for both. Signs point to the latter as several of these planned or existing cars, including Tesla’s, have a lengthy customer waiting list.

Tesla’s investors include Google, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Daimler AG, Aabar Investments, Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group, Compass Venture Partners. Tesla has also received an ‘opportunistic’ US$82.5m equity investment from a group led by Fjord Capital Management, a private equity firm which focuses exclusively on clean energy. “Daimler, which invested US$50m in Tesla earlier in 2009, along with Aabar Investments, which is also Daimler’s largest shareholder, contributed to the offering to keep its stake at just under 10%. The new money was earmarked for Tesla’s expansion of its retail store network globally.”

The IPO would be the first from a US Automaker since Ford in 1956.

Google Ventures

Posted on by matthewlim

About: There isn’t much information on Google Ventures’ website. It describes itself as “Google Ventures seeks to discover and grow great companies – we believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things. We’re studying a broad range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care. We invest anywhere from seed to mezzanine stage and embrace the challenge of helping young companies grow from the garage to global relevance. Our team includes entrepreneurs, investors and innovators, along with some 20,000+ exceptional Googlers whose breadth of knowledge, experience and creativity constitute perhaps our own most valuable resource. You don’t have to be a potential Google acquisition for us to want to work with you; we’re out to build great companies, period.”

Prior to Google Ventures which was launched in March 2009, Google has been investing in cleantech through its philanthropic arm, Google.org. Google.org aspires to use the power of IT to address the global challenges of our age. Its initiatives in Clean Energy include RE<C (which aims to develop electricity from renewable energy cheaper than coal), RechargeIT (which aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in vehicles) and Google PowerMeter (which aims to develop personal information that helps consumers make smarter energy choices). Google Ventures’ offices are in Mountain View, CA and Cambridge, MA.

www.google.com/ventures
See also www.google.org

Key Personnel:
Bill Maris, Managing Partner
Rich Miner, Managing Partner

Portfolio:
Based on Cleantech Group 2008 report, Google made investments in the following companies: ActaCell, AltaRock Energy, Aptera Motors, Makani Power, Potter Drilling, BrightSource Energy, eSolar
Google Ventures so far invested: Silver Spring Networks, Pixazza

News: In March 2009, Cleantech Group reports that “Google has finally admitted there is validity to the long-standing rumors of a dedicated venture capital arm at the Internet giant. Google has officially launched the VC fund, Google Ventures, with about $100 million to invest in technology startups in software, cleantech, biotech, health care and the Web.

In 2007, Google said it planned to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy over the next few years, creating a research and development initiative called Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, or RE<C, to produce a gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal.

But even before creating its venture capital fund, Google has handed out millions to develop or support clean technologies. Some of its investments include:
* $15 million into stealth wind-power startup Makani Power.
* more than $10 million in investments in enhanced geothermal systems: $6.25 million into AltaRock Energy and $4 million into Potter Drilling.
* $2.75 million into Austin, Texas, battery developer ActaCell and Carlsbad, Calif.-based electric car maker Aptera Motors.
* $10 million into Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar and $10 million into Oakland, Calif.’s BrightSource Energy, both developing solar thermal technologies.

Those investments came from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org. But from now on, Google Ventures will oversee the company’s VC investments. So far, the fund has already put cash into Silver Spring Networks.

Response is likely to be overwhelming, especially considering the current limited capital availability. Last time Google put out a call for proposals, it received more than 10 times as many RFPs as it expected. Its $10 million plug-in hybrid request for proposals in 2007 drew more than 300 responses.”

***********************************************

In another article by Reuters in March 2009, it reports “Google Inc is forming a $100 million fund to invest in early-stage start-up firms. The fund, to be called Google Ventures, will be wholly owned by Google, but will operate as a separate entity and will seek investment opportunities to maximize returns rather than looking for investments that strictly fit with Google’s strategic vision.

Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android smart phone software that Google acquired in 2005, and Bill Maris are the fund’s two managing partners. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Miner appeared at an investor conference for Internet start-up companies with a name tag that listed his name alongside Google Ventures.

Miner said on Monday that Google Ventures will look at a wide variety of companies to invest in, including consumer Internet products, information technology, health care and biotech, among other areas. “Just as we were founded by entrepreneurs, we think we can help some of those next entrepreneurs with the next great idea,” said Miner.

Google Ventures has already invested in Pixazza Inc, a photo-based online marketing service and Silver Spring Networks, a company that uses technology to improve the efficiency of power grids. Google has invested in other companies in the past through its philanthropic division, Google.org. While Google.org may continue to make investments from time to time, Maris said that Google Ventures will now function as Google’s “primary vehicle” for making venture-style investments.

Several high-tech companies have in-house venture capital arms, including Intel (INTC.O) and Motorola, But Maris said that Google Ventures will have more in common with traditional venture capital firms. “We’re making financial return our first lens,” said Maris. But he noted that a part of the appeal of Google Ventures for start-up firms is the relationship to Google and its 20,000 employees.

The fund will focus primarily on companies seeking seed funding and early stage funding, and Google Ventures will have the ability to make investments ranging from tens of thousands to “several tens of millions” of dollars, Maris said.”

**********************************************

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin also invested their own money into Nanosolar and Tesla Motors.

See a CNBC interview with Rich Miner here or on vodpod.

google

VantagePoint Venture Partners

Posted on by matthewlim

About: VantagePoint Venture Partners is a leader in investing in 21st Century technologies and partners with entrepreneurs in the CleanTech, Healthcare and Information Technology sectors. With a large investment team of experts, a broad network of Strategic Partners and Senior Advisors, and more than $4.5 billion in committed capital, the Firm has the depth of resources to help build transformative companies that are clear leaders in their fields. The Silicon Valley Firm has investments in more than 70 companies, including notable CleanTech companies Better Place, BridgeLux, BrightSource Energy, Miasolé, Premium Power, Tesla Motors and others. VantagePoint is based in San Bruno, California with offices in Montreal, Beijing and Hong Kong.

www.vpvp.com

Key Personnel:
Jim Marver, Managing Partner
Alan Salzman, CEO and Managing Partner
Managing Directors: Tom Bevilacqua, Annette Bianchi, Stephan Dolezalek, David Fries, Melissa Guzy, Bill Harding, Richard Harroch, Jim Mills, Marc Van Den Berg
Partners: Bernie Bulkin, Lee Burrows, Terry Chen, Duncan Davidson, Mike Fawkes, Bill Green, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Eve Kurtin, John Leggate, Brad Mattson, William McDonough, Mark Platshon, Rafael Simon, R. James Woolsey

Portfolio:
Cleantech – Adura Technologies, AlertMe, Angstrom Power, Better Place, BridgeLux, BrightSource Energy, Chemrec AB, Cobalt BioFuels, iWatt, Mascoma, MiaSolé, New Energy Capital (M&A & IPO), Ostara, Premium Power Corporation, Senergen, SolarCentury, Solazyme, SuperBulbs, Tendril, Tesla Motors, Ze-gen

News: In June 2009, Tendril, creator of the Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) for utilities, energy retailers and their consumers, announced it has secured $30 million in Series C funding. The investment was led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, a recognized leader in the clean tech space, and includes Good Energies, the leading global investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions, RRE Ventures, a builder of leading companies in the software, communications and financial services industries, Vista Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in Boulder, Colorado and Appian Ventures, an investor in software and technologies that improve business performance through the application and management of network connectivity.

In June 2009, Cambridge-based, England, AlertMe.com, the award-winning provider of smart energy saving systems for homes announced it has secured £8 million in Series B funding by investors Good Energies, Index Ventures, SET Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners. The financing will enable AlertMe.com to extend its product development program, continue to ramp up its distribution strategy and to expand the existing team.

In February 2009, US venture capital firm VantagePoint Venture Partners has appointed Robert F Kennedy Jr as a venture partner of its cleantech investment team. In his new role, he will become involved with VantagePoint portfolio companies, particularly those in the water sector. In conjunction with the appointment, Kennedy has taken board positions with two VantagePoint portfolio companies: Premium Power, a leading manufacturer of energy storage solutions, and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc., a wastewater remediation company producing environmentally safe commercial fertiliser.

See FOXBusiness interview with Alan Salzman, CEO of VantagePoint here or on vodpod.

vantagepoint

Sunday Times Green Rich List 2009

Posted on by matthewlim

This is an interesting article on the Green Rich list by Sunday Times. I just list the top 10 here out of 100:

  • Warren Buffet’s holdings include MidAmerican Energy, BYD.
  • Bill Gates’s holdings include Pacific Ethanol (through his Cascade Investments), Sapphire Energy.
  • Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, put environmental initiatives at the top of Ikea’s agenda in 36 countries.
  • Marcel Brenninkmeijer is the chairman of Good Energies, which has 30 companies including Sequoia Energy, Eolectric, C-Free Power Corp, 6N Silicon Inc.
  • Mukesh Ambani’s interest in his Reliance Industries operation is Reliance Life Sciences (RLS).
  • Michael Bloomberg promotes a green agenda for New York called PlaNYC to fight global warming.
  • Michael Otto retired at end of 2007 as head of the Otto Group, the world’s largest mail-order company, which has long touted environmentally safe products and practices as far back as 1995.
  • Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital investment arm sank $250,000 into Seattle’s Imperium Renewables. Last August 2008 Vulcan was part of a consortium investing £20m in Alta Rock Energy, which develops enhanced geothermal systems.
  • Donald Bren’s Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management educates research scientists and environmental management professionals, and also plays a leading role in identifying and solving the environmental problems of the 21st century.
  • Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are top investor in Tesla Motors. Google pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into green energy sources, starting with solar, thermal, high-altitude wind power and now, geothermal energy.

Source: Sunday Times, 1 March 2009

Rank Name Country Wealth Green investment
1 Warren Buffett USA £27bn Wind power
2 Bill Gates USA £26bn Renewable fuel
3 Ingvar Kamprad Sweden £22bn Renewable energy
4 Marcel Brenninkmeijer Holland £19bn Natural power
5 Mukesh Ambani India £15bn Life sciences
6 Michael Bloomberg USA £14.4bn Natural energy
7 Michael Otto Germany £13.2bn Green products
8 Paul Allen USA £11.5bn Natural fuels
9 Donald Bren USA £8.2bn Environmental research
10= Sergey Brin USA £7.5bn Green energy
10= Larry Page USA £7.5bn Green energy

Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Posted on by matthewlim

About: Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) backs extraordinary entrepreneurs everywhere who set out to change the world. DFJ achieves its mission through its DFJ Global Network of Partner Funds. Together, DFJ and the Network manage over $6B and have made more than 600 investments on four continents. With a 24-year history (since its founding in 1985) of success across diverse sectors and market conditions, DFJ has led the way investing in emerging technologies, from the Internet and life sciences to clean energy and nanotechnology. DFJ has been proud to back over 500 companies across many sectors including such industry changing successes such as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Athenahealth (ATHN), EnerNOC (ENOC), TicketsNow (acquired by TicketMaster), Feedburner (acquired by Google), Interwoven (IWOV), Four11 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID).

The DFJ Network includes DFJ, DFJ Athena, DFJ Dragon, DFJ Esprit, DFJ FIR, DFJ Frontier, DFJ Gotham, DFJ Growth, DFJ InCube, DFJ Mercury, DFJ Portage, DFJ Tamir Fishman, Draper Triangle, DFJ Vina, DFJ-VTB Aurora, Element Partners, and Epic Ventures. DFJ has offices located in Menlo Park (US), Shanghai and Bangalore.

www.dfj.com

Key Personnel:
Tim Draper, Managing Director
John Fisher, Managing Director
Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director (interesting article on him here)
Warren Packard, Managing Director
Jennifer Fonstad, Managing Director
Andreas Stavropoulos, Managing Director
Raj Atluru, Managing Director (Raj speaks about DFJ & cleantech practice here)
Josh Stein, Managing Director
Don Wood, Managing Director
Mark Greenstein, Managing Director/CFO

Portfolio:
Since DFJ invested in >200 companies, we selected the relevant sector only for our blog:
Energy/Clean Technology – Attero Recycling, BioFuelBox, BrightSource Energy, Carbon Micro Battery, CoalTek, D.light design, Deeya Energy, EdenIQ, Ember, EnerNOC, Eoplex, Genomatica, Glycos Biotechnologies, GreatPoint Energy, Intematix, Jing-Jin Electric, Kaiima, Konarka, Luminus Devices, Miartech, NanoTune, Nottingham International, Oasys Water, Planet Metrics, Power Assure, Primet Precision Materials, Prudent Energy, Reva Electric, SeaMicro, Solar Junction, SolarCity, Solicore, SPSCAP, Synthetic Genomics, Tang Wind Energy, Tesla Motors, Tioga Energy, VerTerra, Widetronix.

News: July 2009: DFJ has recently rounded up $196 million in a first closing of its latest venture fund, putting the fund nearly half way to a revised $400 million target, according to a recent filing with the SEC. DFJ initially told prospective LPs that it wanted to raise $600 million for Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund X LP but later lowered its sights to $400 million due to the challenging fund-raising environment, VentureWire reported in May. DFJ also made concessions on terms that it’s offering to the limited partners, including the addition of a hurdle rate that it must clear before the firm will be entitled to the 25% premium carry. DFJ, which declined to comment on the fund, is widely known as an early-stage investor, although like many early-stage VCs it has expanded into later-stage deals in recent years with a $290 million dedicated growth equity fund, which closed in 2007.

Comment: One of the interesting things I find about this firm is that it ventured into space exploration sector by backing a Hawthorne Calif.-based company called Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as Space X. The company develops and manufactures launch vehicles for government and commercial space transportation. It was founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. Is it too early for commercial space travel/transportation investment? But Jurvetson’s a fan of space start-ups though he believes that the space tourism is too expensive. This is yet contrasted by Richard Branson’s vision of space travel by establishing the Virgin Galactic. So we’ll see who’s right in the future.

I uploaded 2 videos on Vodpod but it doesn’t seem to be able to view. I put the original links here from GigaOm Show and FoxBusiness.

dfj