Commentary
Greenbang Report Calls for Encouragement for Cleantech Investment
Greenbang, the cleantech website, in collaboration with the Innovation Centre of Bath University and international communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton, has just published a report profiling 23 of what it identified as the best new companies in the cleantech sector. The businesses concerned, which include Onzo, encompass a wide range of activities including construction, energy, information and communications technology and transport. “We found”, says the report, “inspiring designs, technologies, business models. The UK has some incredible up-and-coming businesses”
It goes on, however, to argue that while many companies have succeeded in attracting initial venture capital, securing the investment needed to get to the next level of business development is considerably more difficult. The solution, it goes on, is more government support, in the form of longer-term policies to reduce political and financial uncertainty, and more incentives to encourage investors.
Onzo has been successful in raising funds. This is not necessarily typical, however, and it would be a mistake to assume there are unlimited sums available for cleantech start-ups in this country. Funds remain very difficult to attract. UK investors generally take a much more cautious and measured approach than their counterparts in the US, where the tendency is to back new businesses earlier, more indiscriminately, and with larger sums of seed capital.
There is a future for the best of cleantech here, but the climate is by no means easy and Greenbang is right that regulatory support is vital. For instance, recognition by the government that smart displays have an important role to play in promoting energy efficiency and reducing carbon gas emissions would give a very important boost to this potentially significant new sector of the economy.
