Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Kleiner Perkins and CleanTech

Leading venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins is getting serious about clean tech and is measuring its success by more than just rate of return.

Most venture capitalists are judged on return on investment alone. Asked how he'll judge the success of the green initiative, he reels off five measures: "the company we keep, the quality of the companies we help grow, the quality of the partners we add, returns on the investments we make, and by the CO2 that's taken out of the atmosphere."
I think this makes sense for, as I previously laid out, this kind of investment can be seen as an alternative to donating and is likely to have a greater positive impact. But I will be curious to see if their investors agree as:
Five years after Kleiner Perkins made its first green investment, the firm hasn't had one "exit" -- VC-speak for an IPO or a sale of a company that validates the investment thesis.
via Fortune via Earth2Tech

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