So, everyone is talking about Asian investments, are they really active investors in Greentech? Do they invest in international opportunities and how do they operate differently from US / European investors?

Let’s look at 3 markets briefly this time: China, Japan, and Singapore.

China: Easy & Difficult money simultaneously

Chine has dominated the world’s business press pretty much for last 2 or 3 years; with strong economic growth. It is also trying to leapfrog its technology & services to replace manufacturing as its key industry. This was caused by significant rise in inflation, labor costs in China; and soon, China will lose its competitiveness in terms of manufacturing cost.

In fact, its policies are very similar to US! They see Greentech as their key exporting & services industry; and are making progresses in becoming a leader in this industry; it is already a leading nation in solar and wind energy, at least from manufacturing perspective.

Chinese investors are very active in Greentech; its venture capital funds like DFJ, Dragon Ventures and also its local banks such as ICBC have been funding and financing new greentech opportunities. Much of these investments are limited in local markets only; however; one should also look at individual investors and also strategic investors; such as Chinese solar companies, Chinese vehicle manufacturers, and Chinese utilities companies as potential investors.

In our research with business owners; we often find it is much easier to deal with individuals directly or Chinese venture capital firms that are established by American Chinese individuals or with alliances with US / European funds (eg. Sequoia); Israeli VCs are also active in China; as well as Germans; they all have their subsidiary or branch over in China; which could be good starting points.

Dealing with Chinese Government which owns all the utilities companies in China is a complete new challenge and ballgame for those looking for investments; yes, there is a big money out there; but it will take a lot of patience and negotiation skills dealing with Chinese Government or Government sponsored investment funds as their structure is very different from the traditional investment banks or venture capital firms.

Japan: Amazing place for Investors

In terms of openness and culture of innovations; as well as adopting greentech, Japan leads the world in many fields. Honda for instance, has filed the most “Greentech related patents” in 2009, well ahead with anyone else. Japanese firms have also filed in total more patents in Greentech industries than anyone else in the world.

Japanese firms like technologies, as technologies have transformed this nation into a major economy in the world. There is a culture in fostering innovations as well; universities and conglomerates usually work together in developing new cleantech technologies.

Japanese investment firms have been investing in global greentech opportunities for almost 10 years now; some of the major investors include Softbank (which invests just about anything and everything), JAFCO, Mitsubishi, Nomura and those affiliated with Honda and Hitachi as well.

You will also notice from our Global CleanTech Capital Providers Guide (from http://researchwhitepaper.com), that many Japanese VCs have established offices in US and Europe as well.

In terms of the sectors; Japan has one of the world’s largest solar industries; and has also invested in many waste management related technologies as well as renewable energy especially nuclear energy industries; wind energy is also widely adopted across Japan; in fact, as Japan does not produce any oil or gas; any renewable energy technology or projects are of interest to many Japanese firms.

You should also consider Japanese banks for financing as their interest rate is comparatively attractive than other banks.

Singapore: A Rising Greentech Tiger

We talked about Singapore many times; and it is just becoming more and active each time we look into it. Singapore is not just Singapore, it is a gateway to Southeast Asia; and its investment sphere is very global; including China, Japan, and Australia within its own regions; and it has also been very active in North America and Europe as well.

Singaporean greentech investment concept has been built upon its success in investing and fostering global technology companies; with notable success such as Equinix (Internet Data Center); and many sub-sea cable companies that faced financial stress back in 2000.

Its success also include its significant achievements in developing some of the world’s most advanced water technologies, solar technologies and semiconductor industries.

In terms of investments, capital seekers can consider 2 choices: You can approach the increasing number of Singaporean VCs of which almost all invest in international deals; some are affiliated with banks (eg. UOB and DBS).

The 2nd choice is dealing with Singaporean Government or Government sponsored investment funds / companies such as Temasek, Keppel (Conglomerate), SingTel (which also has their own VC funds attached to it); and investigate in terms of grants and assistances available if you choose to open up a regional operation in Singapore. Export grants may also be available from Singapore relating to greentech opportunities.

The above article is from ResearchWhitePaper (http://researchwhitepaper.com), a publisher of research reports & industry research across many industries & capital raising reports.

ResearchWhitePaper also has published Global CleanTech & Renewable Energy Capital Providers Guide, Global Solar Companies Guide and other Green related reports; all available on http://researchwhitepaper.com