Nov 29 2009
Lend Lease Ventures, the venture capital arm of Lend Lease, continues to expand its portfolio following its significant investment in Better Place Australia - the leader in the design and deployment of infrastructure to support the expected mass transition to electric vehicles (EVs). The Better Place Australia investment reflects Lend Lease Ventures’ focus on the cleantech sector, in turn assisting the wider Lend Lease Group continue as a leader in the provision of sustainable solutions.
Regulation across Europe, the US and more recently in Australia has seen billions of dollars being poured into investments, like Better Place Australia, to reduce global demand on fossil fuels. In Australia, the federal government, through its Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme, has mandated that by 2020, 20 percent of Australia’s electricity supply will come from renewable sources.
Chief Executive Officer of Lend Lease Ventures Anthony Pascoe said significant investment in new renewable energy generation combined with the commercialisation of new technologies and infrastructure solutions, are critical to achieving Australia’s renewable energy target.
Over the past 18 months, Lend Lease Ventures has been actively participating in this space, having committed close to $40 million. During this time, it has created a high quality investment portfolio, including investments in:
- Windlab Systems, a multi-national wind energy development company with a strong presence in Australia and selected offshore markets;
- Diamond Energy, an accredited Australian green electricity generator and retailer;
- BioPower Systems, a wave and tidal energy technology developer; and
- WJP Solutions Pty Ltd, a leader in the provision of water recycling solutions in the property sector.
Lend Lease Ventures has been particularly active in recent months with the Better Place Australia investment coming closely off the back of the Windlab Systems investment which was announced on 31 August 2009.
Windlab led the development of the Australian Renewable Energy (Wind) Atlas, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government’s Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, and its management team comprises individuals who have been instrumental in shaping the early stages of the modern wind energy industry over the past 13 years.
“Better Place Australia plans to build an electric vehicle network capable of supporting the switch of Australia’s 12 million passenger vehicles to zero emission sources. Better Place Australia intends to source all of its electricity from clean energy (e.g. wind, solar) and this could ultimately eliminate all carbon emissions from Australia’s personal road transport sector – responsible for almost eight percent of our nation’s carbon dioxide emissions,” Mr Pascoe said.
Lend Lease Ventures’ mandate is to invest in emerging cleantech companies that complement Lend Lease’s global property capabilities, adding value to the entire business group and contributing to the maintenance of Lend Lease’s leadership position in innovation and sustainability.
“Our team continues to investigate investment opportunities in the cleantech space - ideally companies that are at the expansion capital stage of their life cycle and looking for an experienced investment partner and in many instances, a commercialisation partner,” Mr Pascoe said.
Last financial year, venture capital funds invested almost $200 million in Australia of which approximately 16 percent was invested in the cleantech sector. This level of investment was dwarfed by the US$2.7 billion which was invested in the cleantech sector alone in the US over the same period. At a global level, total cleantech investments as a percentage of total venture capital investments reached 27 percent in Q2 2009.