American and European venture capitalists invested more than $3.5 billion in clean technologies — a 13 percent increase over 2006.
But other nations want a piece of the pie; so Indian banks are going to provide Australian companies access to their energy markets in order to grow India’s cleantech sector. Equity funding for development projects is lacking on the subcontinent, but money from Australian investors can help bridge that gap for initiatives like renewable energy, water, building efficiency and transportation. Vivek Mehra, country head of Sustainable Investment Bank and Private Equity, Yes Bank India, told ThaiIndian News:
Australia has expertise on clean coal technology and India is going to rely on coal to meet its energy needs for a long time to come. The two countries can mutually benefit from sharing this clean and economically feasible technology.
Bridging the knowledge — and funding gaps — in our globalized economy will be critical in advancing a cleantech future, whether it’s in the developed or developing world. I suspect we’ll see even more collaboration between private investors and emerging economies as cleantech continues to boom and the money follows.