Federal program could speed up
Written on March 4, 2008
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected three venture capital firms to participate in a national program designed to accelerate commercialization of advanced clean energy technologies spun out of federal laboratories.
The entrepreneur in residence, or EIR, pilot program, will use venture capital-sponsored and selected entrepreneurs to identify laboratory-developed technologies funded by the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and to develop business cases for commercialization of the "cleantech" ventures.
Two California venture capital firms — Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Foundation Capital — and Chicago-based ARCH Venture Partners were selected to jumpstart the program, each working with one of three federal energy laboratories.
Each laboratory will host one entrepreneur in residence at a given time, with as much as $100,000 provided to help defray salary and other expenses. Each venture capital firm will match DOE funding and may contribute additional funds to support its chosen entrepreneur's work http://payday-nofax.com.
In turn, the entrepreneurs will conduct technology assessments, evaluate market opportunities, formulate preliminary business cases, and propose business structures in an effort to bring renewable energy technologies to market.
Interest in the cleantech sector is picking up in Houston and across the country. Venture capital firms invested more than $2 billion in the cleantech sector nationwide in 2007, a 47 percent increase over 2006, according to the MoneyTree report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.
One publicly traded Houston cleantech company, Trulite Inc., received $1.2 million in funding during the fourth quarter from Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy Group.
Another Houston group, Yellowstone Capital Partners LLC is in the process of raising $50 million for a second fund to focus on early-stage cleantech investments.