By Cameron Chai
Third quarter investments in cleantech venture capital funding in 2010 have suffered as per a report from Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureSource.
A reported 55% decrease in capital and 22% decrease in deals have been seen as compared to the same quarter in 2009.
Although people still seem interested in energy efficiency as this segment of cleantech received $161.7 million with around 17 deals in the third quarter of 2010. This is 6% more capital raised in the energy efficiency segment as compared to last year.
Another section of cleantech which did well in the quarter was Energy or Electricity Generation. The solar companies saw 10 deals worth $150 million taking place this quarter. The deals were up by 27% compared to last year.
The analysts see considerable volatility in cleantech investment considering the last two years. The funding and investment was also hit by the drop in investments in California pending the vote for prop.23.
Investments in Massachusetts have looked up with a 50 % increase in deals and a 65 % increase in venture capital raised as compared to last year.