At BVP, we believe the global economy must accommodate new population growth and create opportunities for economic growth and improved standards of living in both the developed and developing worlds, while:

• using (increasingly expensive) commodities more efficiently;
• emitting fewer greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming;
• addressing the challenge posed by an already strained infrastructure; and
• relying on energy resources to which there is stable access.

This amounts to a massive paradigm shift for industries and economies. We invest in entrepreneurs and businesses that share this vision and use technology as a tool to address these challenges.

Description

The following principles drive our clean-tech investment strategy:

• Making the most efficient use of limited resources while delivering strong ROI and economic value to customers
• A capital-efficient approach to building businesses
• The essential role played by innovation and technology as part of the solution
• The developing world’s industrialization, as we welcome more than two billion people to a higher standard of living
• The reality of a carbon constrained globe

Our broad clean-tech investment mandate covers energy generation, efficiency, energy storage, energy- grid upgrades, transportation, water and waste treatment and recycling, and renewable energy development and financing. We strongly believe in a roadmap-driven investment strategy in which we target investments in sectors based on careful, top-down analyses of macro trends, industry dynamics and markets ready for disruption. We then invest in the most promising teams and businesses according to the principles outlined above.

In energy generation, we were early investors in Miasolé to commercialize thin-film solar PV with industry-leading price and performance characteristics. We also invested in leading renewable-energy development companies in India, including Shriram EPC Ltd., Orient Green Power and Applied Solar Technologies. We have followed the adoption of renewable energy across the globe. Our significant presence in India afforded us the footprint to understand local dynamics and work closely with these companies.

Improvements in energy efficiency promise to offer the most immediate payback. Within this roadmap, Exclara addresses solid-state lighting, while Pinnacle Engines targets the transportation segment.

Recognizing critical current and future needs in energy storage, we invested in Xtreme Power to enable power management at utility scale.

Our early investment in CPower is an example of our belief that energy-grid upgrades, particularly in the US, will provide a large economic opportunity. Smart Grid is one example within this roadmap, and utility-scale storage another.

These are some of the perspectives that have led to our current investments, including some investments that will be disclosed in time. Our roadmaps will evolve and change. We encourage you to submit your business plan or executive summary to cleantech@bvp.com.

BVP will provide capital, recruit talent, leverage our global platform and influence policy makers to develop and commercialize cost-effective technologies to help us move toward the “Doing More With Less” paradigm while reducing negative effects to our environment.

• American Superconductor (AMSC, 1992)

• Applied Solar Technologies
• CPower
• Exclara
• Miasolé
• Orient Green Power
• Pinnacle Engines
• Shriram EPC Ltd.
• Xtreme Power
• UltraSolar Technology

• The Grid: Demand, Incentives Make Indian Renewables Attractive (DowJones)

Recruiting Talent to Cleantech

BVP has worked with entrepreneurs and executives in their transition from IT to cleantech. We have also been instrumental in helping our cleantech portfolio companies recruit talent from other technology sectors.