Surprising proprietary insight into available funding informs Sustainable Ventures’ inaugural, exclusive one-day conference in London.
Proprietary market analysis from Sustainable Venture Development Partners has yielded surprising insights into the evolving low carbon business environment. Between 2005 and 2010, £126bn was raised in private equity cleantech funding, while total global new investment in clean energy from 2004-2010 reached $243bn. Fundraising held up well during the recession and Sustainable Ventures has found that over £80bn of the funding raised remains uncalled and available for well-structured opportunities.
With such a large amount of funding available, the potential for new deal flow is clearly significant and untapped. However, a Cleantech Group research project conducted in 2011 on behalf of the Carbon Trust found that 29% of UK cleantech entrepreneurs cited “lack of access to finance” as their main obstacle to growth, even though more than half (57%) were planning on raising funding through the following year.
Almost one-third of cleantech developers feel they have no direct competition, but despite significant opportunities in this emerging sector, only 51% of respondents had received equity investment from third parties. Over 80% of respondents “expect to need external equity finance on route to market”, but believe the investment climate too risk-averse and lacking consistency, focused instead on short-term returns and government support.
Sustainable Ventures believes there are significant sustainable opportunities in every low carbon market sector and, in light of the clear disparities between available funding and venture growth, is pleased to announce the inaugural Sustainable Venture Development Conference: an independent, one-day event bringing together low-carbon industry leaders, investors and stakeholders to focus on how best to maximise market and financial potential to create, develop and grow new businesses.
Speaking on the conference and the sector, Sustainable Ventures founder and Managing Director, Andrew Wordsworth, said:
“Amid growing disruption to traditional energy markets, our analysis shows clear opportunities for finance and growth in the low carbon sector. The Sustainable Venture Development Conference will instruct and inform delegates in identifying consumer or business needs before providing a comprehensive, practical toolkit for the design of the innovative, sustainable and scalable business models required to meet them.
“Our speakers and contributors have all ‘been there and done it’ when it comes to conceiving new ventures and bringing in investors, corporate partners and management teams to deliver growth.
“The low-carbon world is full of proven technologies and with such a significant sum of funding currently uncalled, innovators should focus on business model innovation rather than technology invention – and that is what the Sustainable Venture Development Conference is all about exploring.
“Spaces are limited so we would encourage people to book now to ensure their place.”
About the Sustainable Venture Development Conference
The conference is a one-day event being held at Nabarro LLP, 84 Theobald’s Road, London, WC1X 8RW, from 8am-6pm, in partnership with lead sponsor Nabarro, Financial Services Partner Investment Week and Executive Search Partner En-Spiral. Contributing speakers include E.ON, Global Corporate Venturing, Generation Investment Management, Lancea Partners and Climate Strategies.
The event will be split into three sections, focusing on the ‘Origination’, ‘Delivery’ and ‘Growth’ of innovative low-carbon ventures in the UK market. Tickets for the event are still available and can be booked at the conference website – www.svdconf.co.uk – where a full agenda, speaker profiles and list of media partners are also available.
About Sustainable Ventures
Sustainable Venture Development Partners (“Sustainable Ventures”) works with cleantech investors, entrepreneurial managers and corporate partners to originate, build and grow sustainable businesses. Our portfolio companies benefit from the on-going support of the Sustainable Ventures management team who have already established 11 low carbon ventures, attracting over £200m in equity commitments. Portfolio company growth is accelerated and de-risked through access to our extensive network, deep sector expertise and venture development experience.