Clean-tech strong in venture capital
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Scott Jagow: So, investment banking isn’t completely dead. And neither is venture capital. The Venture Capital Association says venture cap money is down for obvious reasons, but the cash that is flowing isn’t headed to drug companies. From our Entrepreneurship Desk at Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mitchell Hartman reports.
Mitchell Hartman: The winners in the venture capital race right now: everything from solar power to new “smart-grid” energy technology.
Pascal Levensohn manages a VC firm in San Francisco:
Pascal Levensohn: We also remain optimistic that the administration will help catalyze significant advancements in clean-tech, and I think that we should all be looking out for more public-private partnerships.
Levensohn says right now, VC firms are bolstering their reserves and cutting off companies they don’t think will make it to an acquisition or initial public offering.
Levensohn: People are all making tough decisions about, you know, am I going to put a bullet into Company X because it’s really just not going to get me there?
Venture capitalist Bob More says in biotech, there’s a healthy shake-out going on.
Bob More: So if we can spend a million dollars or $2 million to find out that a drug or an opportunity is a bad idea, that is considered money well spent.
By the way, clean-tech now outpaces biotech investing for the first time ever.
I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
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