VC cleantech investments down 63% in Q1'09

According to Ernst & Young and Dow Jones Venture Source, venture capital spending for research and startup projects in renewable energy fell 63 percent in March
Venture capitalists spent $277 million from January to March on clean-energy projects, compared with $715.3 million in the same period last year, the report says.

Joseph Muscat, a director at Ernst & Young LLP, said in a statement. "The weak economy has caused demand for energy in general to go down."

"Despite the intense challenges of raising capital during the past four months, government initiatives and corporate commitments are points of light for clean tech companies"

"While the timing of the receipt of government funding is uncertain, we expect that loan guarantees and other government financing structures, as well as corporate adoption rates of clean technologies, will be early indicators of an upward investment cycle," said Muscat.

Solyndra, a clean-tech startup focused cylindrical photovoltaic systems manufacturer based in California, was a recent beneficiary of government funding from the Department of Energy.

Google Announces Venture Fund - $100MM

Google announces venture fund - expected to invest $100 million in the next tweleve months. Google Ventures will be part of Corporate Development led by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer.
Google Ventures has already invested in Silver Spring Networks, which provides technology to help manage electric grids and Pixazza, which links online images with related products that can be purchased.
Email all your great ideas to ventures@google.com
Partners:
Bill Maris is a Managing Partner of Google Ventures. Bill brings more than a decade of diverse operational, entrepreneurial and leadership experience to Google Ventures. Bill's past successes include founding Web hosting pioneer Burlee.com, which he subsequently sold to Interland, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW), now known as Web.com. Prior to that, Bill was a portfolio manager for Stockholm, Sweden-based Investor AB, one of the world's largest industrial holding companies, where he co-managed the biotechnology and health care portfolios. Bill’s background also includes scientific research into cholinergic visual pathways, cell membrane patch clamping techniques and in-vivo neuronal cell injection at Duke University Medical Center, Department of Neurobiology. Bill is based in Mountain View, CA and received an A.B. with honors in Neuroscience from Middlebury College.
Rich Miner is a Managing Partner of Google Ventures. He has spent the past 25 years growing businesses with innovative communications and interface-intensive applications. Rich joined Google through the acquisition of Android, a mobile platforms company.
http://www.google.com/ventures/index.html