Clean-tech investing rebounded in the first quarter with a big increase in the number of start-ups receiving money.
Venture capitalists poured $773 million into 69 deals during the three-month period, an 87 percent jump from the fourth quarter in terms of dollars and 44 percent rise in deals. More start-ups received funding than during any three months period in a year and a half.
Fisker Automotive's $115 million deal with the largest venture capital transaction in the first quarter. The company is preparing to begin selling its Karma electric car.
The upswing came despite a drop in overall venture investing. Venture capitalists in the United States invested $4.7 billion into 681 deals, down 9 percent in dollars and 18 percent in transactions from the fourth quarter. (Spending was up compared with the first quarter of 2009 when the collapse on Wall Street froze most firms and funds in their tracks.)
The increase suggests a big shift in investment priorities. After a pause last year, clean-tech again looks hot. The investment study is released each quarter by the National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thomson Reuters.
The MoneyTree survey, as it is called, found that clean-tech investing was driven by several large deals, including six of the top 10.
Included on the list was Fisker Automotive, the top transaction in the period, which took in $115 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and two unnamed firms. Fisker is ramping up its electric-car production.
Also mentioned was solar company Amonix, which gathered $64 million, and LED lighting manufacturer BridgeLux, which received $60 million. Amyris Biotechnologies, a biofuels maker, added $48 million to its bank account, also from Kleiner Perkins and Temasek Holdings, and solar products manufacturer Emphase Energy raised $40.
Also getting money was solar electronics company Petra Solar, which brought in $40 million.
Venture capitalists had put only $413 million in clean-tech investments in the fourth quarter after a forking over $926 million in the third quarter.
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