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VC Funding in Solar Off to Strong Start with Q1 Coming in at $658 Million
Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and
consulting firm, today released funding and merger and acquisition
(M&A) activity for the solar sector during the first quarter of
2011.
Venture capital (VC) funding in the solar sector was off to a great
start for Q1 2011, coming in at $658 million in 25 deals, compared to
$238 million in the previous quarter and $311 million in the first
quarter of last year. The trend was similar with M&A activity
amounting to $1.4 billion in 18 transactions for Q1 2011, compared to
$266 million in Q4 2010 and $909 million in Q1 2010. Debt and other
types of funding activities came in at $9.7 billion for the quarter with
15 deals.
"Looking at the first quarter funding activities, it is clear that VC
investor's appetite for solar has not gone away. In fact, this was the
best VC funding quarter since Q2 of 2010 ($948M) and the second best
quarter since Q4 of 2008," commented Raj Prabhu, Managing Partner at
Mercom Capital Group.
The top five funding deals made up for almost 70 percent the total
funding in this quarter, led by a $201 million Series E raise by
BrightSource Energy, a concentrated solar power company. MiaSole, a
copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film panel maker raised $106
million in Series F funding; Alta Devices, a gallium arsenide (GaAs)
thin-film developer raised $72 million in a Series C; Solopower, a CIGS
based flexible thin-film maker, raised $51.6 million in Series E; and
Kiran Energy, a solar power project developer raised $30 million in a
Series A.
Thin film companies attracted the most funding with $283 million raised
in seven deals. CIGS was the most popular technology within thin films
accounting for $196 million in four deals. Concentrated solar power
companies raised $212 million in three deals, followed by $84 million
raised by solar downstream companies in six deals.
There were 55 different VC investors that participated in 24 disclosed
deals. Venture capital firms that recorded multiple rounds included
Crosslink Capital, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Convexa Capital
Ventures, Hudson Clean Energy Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and
Byers.
In continuing with last year's trend, VC arms of companies remained
active in the solar sector. These investors included Alstom, BP, GE,
Chevron, Dow Chemical, Intel and Hanwha. California State Teachers'
Retirement System (CalSTRS), a pension fund, also invested in the sector
this quarter.
Among countries, the U.S. was dominant in VC funding, accounting for 87
percent of all VC funding in the first quarter; 89 percent of all VC
funds raised by solar companies in 2010 were also from the U.S. "When
it comes to VCs investing in solar, the US continues to dominate,"
further commented Raj Prabhu.
Out of $9.8 billion announced in debt and other funding, $7.6 billion
came in from the Bank of China for Jinko Solar. This is a continuing
trend from the last year, where Chinese government banks provided a
total of approximately $34 billion in credit to Chinese solar
manufacturers. There was $2.1 billion in non-Chinese debt transactions
showing significant improvement in the credit markets in Q1 2011. There
was only $2.2 billion in non-Chinese Debt and other funding in all of
2010.
For a complete list of Q1 2011 transactions in the Solar sector, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php
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