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After some setbacks in the first and second quarter, venture capital
investments in greentech saw its second best year in dollars invested
and a record year for the most deals funded in 2009, according to Greentech Media.
The fourth quarter closed at $943 million invested in 100 deals bringing
the total 2009 VC investments in greentech to $4.85 billion compared to
$7.5 billion in 2008 and $3.5 billion in 2007. Solar was the top
recipient with $1.4 billion in 84 deals followed by biofuels with $975
million in 44 deals.
This brings the total number of deals for all four quarters to 356, compared to 350 in 2008 and 222 in 2007.
Significant government funding from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was an important factor for 2009 and a trend
that should be watched closely in 2010-2011. According to Department of Energy (DOE)
just $1.76 billion, representing only 5.3% of awarded funds, has
actually been spent as of December 25, 2009. DOE has awarded a total of
$22 billion so far.
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