Tippy top stars of Techstars Demo Day (Boston Edition)
Red Sox star David Ortiz stole the show at Techstars Boston Demo Day, but here are a few other highlights. Read more »
Why greentech startups need to renew their focus on volume manufacturing
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The lack of greentech hardware success stories points to a potentially missing piece of the puzzle: a Samsung-style intense focus on manufacturing. Read more »
Everything you need to know about funding an energy startup
Venture capitalist Matthew Nordan, from Venrock Capital, breaks down everything you need to know about finding funding for energy-related startups in this video. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Locating data centers in an energy-constrained world
Changes in the power market are rippling through the Internet industry, altering both the location of data centers and their sources of power. There are many factors in picking a data center location beyond the geographic location, such as how to procure energy and green-energy models. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The real reason for the greentech IPO missteps
Three greentech IPO hopefuls pulled the plug on their public market plans this month. There’s a lot that these companies have in common, and it’s not that they’re green: it’s the lack of profits and even revenues. Read more »
Mobile battery life improves, but not how you’d think
Battery life: It’s the bane of a mobile device, second only to spotty mobile broadband coverage in terms of annoyances. We’ve seen promising battery technology, but no major advances just yet. However, we can do so much more with our devices on a single charge. Read more »
Cleantech is dead! Long live cleantech!
Cleantech is dead, or maybe just laying low. After a difficult 18 months, investors in the sector are shying away or shifting their strategies to reflect reality. And the debate over what is greentech or cleantech is back. What do you think? Read more »
Greentech struggles are business as usual for the Valley
Do recent struggles dominating the news represent the beginning of the end for green technology? Nah, it looks like business as usual for Silicon Valley. Only one in ten start-ups ever make it, VCs like to say, and failure makes you stronger. Read more »
The state of cleantech venture capital, part 2: The investors
There’s a widespread perception that cleantech venture capital must be tanking compared with VC overall. That perception is wrong. Read more »
The state of cleantech venture capital, part 1: The money
Plenty of late-stage financing will be available for cleantech start-ups over the next few years, but seed/Series A money is another matter. Read more »
Google shuts down its initiative to reduce the cost of clean power
Google is officially shutting down its own in-house research initiative and equity investing focus on lowering the cost of clean power, called Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal, or RE
Fisker won’t ramp up production of Karma until Q2 2012
Electric vehicle startup Fisker Automotive has dramatically scaled back production plans of its first car, the Karma, in the fourth quarter of 2011, and it won’t ramp up to full production until the second quarter of 2012. Read more »
Groupon’s $12.6B valuation compared to greentech (it’s sad)
Looks like Groupon will go public on Friday morning at $20 per share, giving it a valuation of $12.6 billion for its online coupon business. Let’s compare it to some of the greentech startups and big energy firms and try not to get disturbed. Read more »
Green energy-powered flying car has market size of $625B!!!
Holy smokes! The market for a green energy-powered flying car is $625 billion! You know, you just add up the markets for air travel, greentech and automobiles . . . Oh wait, it doesn’t work that way? Check out this hilarious animated video: Read more »
On LinkedIn, green startups are leading the way
While green startups may have gone through some tough times recently, LinkedIn has seen a major uptick in members who work for small businesses in the industry. From 2009 to 2011, “renewables and environment” was the fastest growing sector within the small business landscape on LinkedIn. Read more »
A different kind of disruption agent needed for energy
Does the energy industry need more disruption-focused web entrepreneurs like Sean Parker, of Napster and Facebook fame? While the world will be better with more Parkers in general, I don’t think the energy industry will be disrupted as easily by these types of folks. Read more »
An exercise in galactic-scale energy
Follow physics professor Tom Murphy on an exercise in galactic energy that points out the absurdity that results from the assumption that we can continue growing our consumption of energy forever. Read more »
Unlocking a $500B green industry, without government money
My organization, The Carbon War Room, has put together a consortium to tackle, as was reported this week: “one of the nation’s biggest energy problems — waste in older buildings — without new money from Washington.” Read more »
PHOTOS: The Y-Combinator for greentech kicks off
Greenstart, a Y-Cominbator-style accelerator program for greentech startups, kicked off its first program on Tuesday at its new offices in downtown San Francisco, and unveiled its first four startups. Read more »
Report: Bloom Energy valued at almost $3B
There’s more confirmation out on Thursday of fuel cell maker Bloom Energy’s latest $150 million in new VC funds, and reportedly, the round is at a $2.7 billion pre-money valuation. Read more »
The danger of politicians linking with high risk startups
Politicians, in office and retired, need to do their homework and pay special attention to connecting with tech and greentech startups. The majority of these companies won’t succeed. Read more »
10 ways to wind down your green startup
Some are expecting the cleantech graveyard of startups to start filling up. But how companies wind down, sell off their assets, or morph into slimmer versions of their former selves, is a personal choice for the companies and investors. Here’s 10 ways you can do it: Read more »
Greentech stocks crash in market sell-off, too
Tech stocks took a beating on Monday morning, the first day of trading after Standard & Poor downgraded the credit ratings of credit agencies. At the same time, greentech stocks — from solar to biofuels to smart grid — fell alongside the weak macro economic news. Read more »
A growing market for cleantech: data centers
Data centers might not be the energy hogs anticipated in 2010, but they’re still offering a growing market for both energy efficiency technology and clean power. Read more »
DuPont buys solar ink maker Innovalight
DuPont announced on Monday that it has bought Innovalight, a Silicon Valley startup that makes silicon ink that solar-cell makers can use to improve the amount of electricity that the cells can squeeze out of sunlight. DuPont declined to disclose the purchase price. Read more »
As web VC investing booms, cleantech slows
Earlier this week figures from the latest MoneyTree report found that VC funding for web startups has reached a 10-year high. Contrast that with the funding figures from Dow Jones, which found that venture investment in the energy sector dropped by more than half. Read more »
A sand box for low energy building tech
For most people, the images below look like just another building on the UC Berkeley campus. But for tech firms, construction companies, architects and utilities that are interested in low energy building design, Building 90, and its accompanying structures, look like a little slice of heaven. Read more »
A better way to cool LEDs gets attention from GE
GE backs startup Nuventix, which has developed a cooling technology for LEDs and electronics. The tech can help LED-makers cool lights without using a larger fixture size. Read more »
China’s role in 2nd quarter greentech figures
The common thread in greentech is: China. The country, which has been the world’s key growth engine for clean energy and green technology over the past few years, has begun to see some weakness, and that’s causing ripple effects through the global green economy. Read more »
A new greentech VC to pitch: Michael Ahearn & his $300M fund
Former First Solar CEO and founder Michael Ahearn officially launched his $300 million greentech fund, dubbed True North Venture Partners, on Monday. Greentech entrepreneurs, send them your best pitches! Read more »
Aptera raises $2.25M in debt, restructuring
Three-wheeled electric-car startup Aptera has already delayed the launch of its car and has discussed restructuring and moving its manufacturing out of California. But it looks like the company is not completely down for the count: According to a filing, Aptera has raised $2.5 million in debt. Read more »
Rant: Green-marketed phones are total BS
Trying to use green marketing to sell cell phones is a misplaced effort by the phone companies. There, I said it. I’m not even going to do a light-hearted lead into the thesis of this post. Read more »
The clean economy employs more workers than fossil fuels
The green technology and clean power industries are currently employing more workers than their dirty fossil fuel peers. That’s according to a report released from the Brookings Institution, which has crunched the numbers of jobs created in the U.S. from cleantech. Read more »
There’s a severe oversupply of electric car batteries comin’
The supply of batteries for electric cars could far surpass the demand for electric vehicles over the next few years, estimates Lux Research. It could be a “severe mismatch,” that could cause consolidation and the need for new markets for battery makers. Read more »
Cleantech apocalypse? No, but it’s cyclical
The cries declaring a cleantech armageddon are coming keep on getting louder. But I don’t think cleantech is headed for a sharp crash. It’s been going through consolidation for some time now, and the cleantech sector is inherently cyclical and is heading into a down cycle. Read more »
How farmers are clean power pioneers
When it comes to adopting new technologies, particularly solar, farmers and owners of ag-related operations have often led the way. We list some recent projects that rely on agricultural producers to demonstrate new technologies. Read more »
Feds offer $105M loan guarantee for “Project Liberty” biofuel plant
Poet’s so-called “Project Liberty” biofuel plant, which will use corn waste instead of edible corn, is getting some support from the U.S. government. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it will offer Poet a $105 million loan guarantee to build out Project Liberty in Iowa. Read more »
The spark for a green web movement: extreme weather
I’ve been waiting for some kind of social network or web movement that would galvanize people around sustainability and green. Is the intersection between extreme weather and digital media the spark that could help deliver that green web movement? Read more »
Zynga, Groupon to the rescue for cleantech bets
The future of clean power and greener transportation is being carried by FarmVille and online coupons — at least in terms of venture capital portfolios. Read more »
KiOR prices IPO at low end at $15 per share
Biofuel startup KiOR has priced its IPO at $15 per share, below its estimated price per share of between $19 to $21. Read more »
