“So the question is now changing to: ‘Why do you not have a corporate venturing activity?’ And this is logical due to the threat to their core business model that utilities, especially in Europe, are facing. Innovation is key, and corporate venturing is a good instrument to foster open innovation.”
At the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium, Issam Dairanieh, managing director of BP Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the UK-based oil company, explained why BP Ventures’ direction had changed, and instead of focusing exclusively on alternative energy, traditional energy was added to the mix. Dairanieh said: “To be part of a company that is really dominated by upstream in terms of revenues, if you want to be impactful, you have to work with the bigger guys in the company, and that is upstream.
Leick said key investment trends for him included anything related to smart grids in the US and also in Europe. He said RWE Innogy Venture Capital backing Heliatek shortly before press time “maybe marks a comeback for the clean-tech companies that can prove their worldwide leadership on technology. Investments focusing only on software are super-hot right now, but as we know everything works in cycles, so technology will come back in the coming years.”
There were two stand-out exits linked to the energy sector in the last year – the sale of water desalination company NanoH20 and the listing of oil field productivity company Glori Energy.
South Korea-based chemical company LG Chem bought US-based water desalination company NanoH2O for $200m. BASF Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of the Germany-based chemical producer, and Total Energy Ventures, the France-based petroleum company’s unit, were backers of NanoH2O.
Houston-based Glori Energy, which is backed by Energy Technology Ventures, a group with corporate venturing backing from oil major ConocoPhillips, industrial company General Electric (GE) and utility NRG Energy, was bought by special purpose acquisition company Infinity Cross Border Acquisition Corporation, and following the transaction was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange valued at about $185m. Private equity funds sponsoring the deal were Hicks Equity Partnersand Infinity Group.
The largest investment was Cool Planet Energy Systems, a US-based developer of green fuel technology, closing a $100m series D round led by Singapore-based petroleum producer Concord Energy and venture capital firm North Bridge Venture Partners. The two were joined by Google Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of the internet company, as well as Constellation Technology Ventures – the corporate venturing unit of US-based energy company Exelon –petroleum company BP and Energy Technology Ventures, the fund formed by GE, ConocoPhillips and NRG Energy.
US-based solar rooftop installer Sungevity raised $70m in an equity round featuring Germany-based utility Eon and GE Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of GE.
US-based energy storage technology developer Green Charge Networks secured $56m in funding from K Road, a distributed energy and smart grid business.
Heliatek, a Germany-based manufacturer of organic solar film, received €18m ($22.5m) in a series C round featuring RWE Innogy Venture Capital, as well as industrial manufacturers Robert Bosch and BASF. Investment holding company Aqton led the round, which also included corporate-backed venture fund High-Tech Gründerfonds.
GlassPoint Solar, a US-based developer of solar steam technology, raised $53m in series C funding from investors including energy company Royal Dutch Shell.
US-based solar microinverter and monitoring technology developer Solar Bridge Technologies secured more than $40m in an E round from investors including Constellation Technology Ventures.
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the Saudi Arabian oil company, invested in deals such as Wearable Intelligence, a US-based producer of software for wearable hardware such as Google Glass, alongside Google Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the internet company, and US-based gas-to-fuel company Siluria Technologies.
Total Energy Ventures also backed energy storage company Ambri, which closed a $35m series C round, with insurance company Building Insurance Bern also investing in the deal.
Constellation was a backer of Proterra, which extended its series C round to $34m and which was also backed by Edison Energy, a subsidiary of Edison International as well as GM Ventures, the venture capital arm of General Motors, Mitsui & Co Global Investment, the venture investment subsidiary of the Japan-based trading company, and Hennessey Capital, a division of financial services unit Hitachi Capital America and part of the Japan-based engineering and electronics conglomerate Hitachi.
Constellation also invested in Astrum Solar, a US-based residential solar installer, which raised an unspecified amount of series B funding led by private equity firm New World Capital Group.
Cylon Controls, an Ireland-based developer of energy management systems for businesses, secured €7m of funding from ESB Novusmodus Fund, a venture fund backed by Irish energy company ESB and managed by Greencoat Capital. ESB Novusmodus also invested for a second time in UK-based radar technology company Aveillant, alongside technology development firm Cambridge Consultants, from which Aveillant is a spin-off.
Liquid Light, a US-based developer of technology aimed at converting carbon dioxide to widely-used chemicals, closed a $15m series B round that included BP Ventures.
Electranova Capital, the venture fund co-managed by energy utility EDF and investment firm Idinvest Partners, invested €5m in France-based sustainable construction Techniwood.
Leosphere, a France-based producer of laser radar remote sensor (lidar) technology, has closed the second tranche of a €20m equity round supported by Electranova Capital, the venture capital fund sponsored by power company EDF.
US-based biofuels product maker NexSteppe raised $22m in a series C round which included Total Energy Ventures and chemicals company DuPont’s corporate venturing unit DuPont Ventures.
Canada-based carbon capture technology company Inventys Thermal Technologies raised an undisclosed amount of financing from investors including Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui and energy company Chevron. Mitsui Global Investment, Mitsui’s corporate venturing arm, and Chevron’s corporate venturing unit, Chevron Technology Ventures, invested alongside venture capital firms Roda Group and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital.
Standard Oil Ventures, oil company Standard Oil’s corporate venturing fund backed US-based ultrasound technology developer ZetroOz.
BP Ventures and speciality chemicals group Evonik backed Biosynthetic Technologies, a US-based producer of biodegradable lubricant. Monsanto was a prior backer of the company.
Spain-based electric scooter producer Scutum raised €2m in series A funding from investors including oil and gas company Repsol, Caixa Capital Risc – part of financial services form La Caixa – and Spanish state-owned Centre for Technological and Industrial Development.
GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, purchased a 10% stake in UK-based, Yukos-backed fuel cell technology developer Intelligent Energy for $63m. Prior to the bankruptcy of its parent company, Russia-based oil producer Yukos’ European subsidiary Yukos International invested in Intelligent’s £11.3m ($21m) venture capital round in 2005 alongside British Virgin Islands-based venture firm Evolution Placements. Yukos’ company’s assets were sold to a range of Russia-based oil producers in 2006 and it is unknown which one inherited its stake in Intelligent Energy.
Funds
Statoil Technology Invest and Scottish Enterprise formed a strategic partnership to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Scotland to invest in research and development and technology development.
Switzerland-based venture firm Emerald Technology Ventures added energy company Suncor Energy, water and hygiene services provider Ecolab and diversified conglomerate SK Group, to the limited partners (investors) in its third fund. Emerald Cleantech Fund III is now at almost $100m, according to Bloomberg. It focuses on clean-tech companies and made its first investment in June 2013, in Finland-based industrial enzyme producer MetGen.
Rusnano, a Russian state-backed investment organisation, and the country’s largest national hydro electric power company, RusHydro, plan to set up a $200m venture fund on an equal basis.
Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Chevron, launched CTV Fund V, a $90m venture capital fund to invest in early to mid-stage companies and in limited partnership funds. The companies should be developing emerging technologies that have the potential to improve Chevron’s oil and gas base business performance orcreate opportunities for growth.
GDF Suez launched a €100m venture fund, following the lead of other large European utilities such as RWE and EDF.
People
Bruce Niven became chief investment officer at Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, having worked at the unit for more than two years. He was previously director of clean-tech venturing and corporate development at Japan-based trading and investment company Itochu.
Adrien Henry left Blue Orange, the corporate venturing fund of water and waste company Suez Environnement, in order to head a biowaste subsidiary. Henry was a co-founder of Blue Orange in 2010 and served as its chief executive. He was succeeded at Blue Orange by Eric Landais, who has served as chief growth officer for Suez Environnement water treatment subsidiary Degremont for three years, having previously been its chief technology and innovation officer since 2004.
Vestaron Corporation, a US-based agricultural company which is commercialising a new generation of biopesticides using natural peptides originally discovered in spiders, appointed John Sorenson as the company’s chief executive, having served as interim CEO since September. Keith Gillard, general partner of Pangaea Ventures, an advanced materials venture capital fund which is sponsored by several corporations, will be chairman of the board.