5 Emerging Greentech Investment Destinations

 

While greentech opportunities are attracting record level investments from US based investors; other international investors are also pumping into this great opportunity.

 

We have identified several investment markets that have also shown very strong interests in Greentech investments; this is based on our research when compiling our Global Greentech Investors Guide. Below are 5 places we have recently identified:

 

China

 

Everyone is talking about China, we can write 10 articles about it! The Chinese appetite for greentech investments is very strong but this is mainly driven by Government’s policies. Investments however, are now available both from Government and private enterprises; and we have seen increasing number of Chinese VCs taking interests into international Greentech projects.

 

The best starting point will be targeting at Hong Kong, Shanghai or Beijing based venture capital firms; many such firms have international presences already; or maybe they are part of the global VC networks such as DFJ. Most of Chinese VC firms to-date has been established by western educated Chinese entrepreneurs; this means much less cultural barriers in place.

 

Korea

 

We talked about Japan about 2 months ago; let’s look at Korea as an investment destination for greentech opportunities. Korea is not yet a popular destination for capital investments for many; however; if you look at newspapers; you would notice how active they have been over the past 3 years; Korean firms have been investing in significant number of global opportunities across Banks, Real Estate and Infrastructure.

 

Korean firms are especially interested in 2 types of opportunities; Technologies and Infrastructure Financing. Korean Banks including its sovereign wealth fund has been funding large scale renewable energy projects including solar farms, biofuel refineries, clean coal mines and water treatment plans.

 

At the same time, Korean VCs, lead by global companies such as Samsung and LG affiliated investment firms have backed technology companies; especially those relating to energy storage and energy efficiency technologies.

 

United Kingdom

 

UK is  a great market to consider when comes to greentech, and has been the focal point for Greentech capital raising. For capital seekers; UK is definitely a market to consider for several factors:

 

Increasing number of investment firms have dedicated their funds into greentech opportunities

UK is the global capital center when comes to Environmental financial derivatives trading, financial instruments

 

Additionally, The UK Government is also intending to make UK’s stock exchanges (both FTSE and AIM) as the global center for greentech listings.

 

The London Stock Exchange is now clearly a global leader for many Greentech companies; they have also recently listed several cleantech related ETFs on London Stock Exchange as another channel to attract investors.

 

The best thing about UK market is their willingness to invest in international markets; from our research; almost all UK based investment firms do invest in global opportunities including both developed and emerging markets.

 

France

 

France is a global venture capital powerhouse, and ranks one of the top 3 capital markets in Europe. Greentech investments are not new in France; French companies have been investing in greentech opportunities since the 1980s.

 

French investment firms are roughly divided into 2 sectors; technology focused and those related to renewable energy projects & infrastructure financing (Large Project Financiers).

 

Technology investment firms are often established by French technology giants; whereas Project Financiers are either attached to French financial institutions or to its large utilities companies.

French utilities companies, for instance; have financed solar farm and wind farms in North America, North Africa and across Asia Pacific as well; and of course, across European continent.

 

Norway

 

We have decided to add Norway into this article; this decision was made for several reasons.

 

First, Norway is both rich in commodities and oil & gas; therefore, its firms are capable in participating in large scale investment projects.

 

Second, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is one of the largest funds in the world; I have read it somewhere that its portfolio value accounts for approximately 2% of the global equities market value!

 

Third; Norwegian investment firms are known to be some of the most globally focused investors; as there are only limited opportunities within Norway itself.

Fourth; it is a nation built upon renewable energy and environmental technologies; and have developed enormous successes in greentech technologies; they are able to provide both investment funds and technical know-how.

 

Today’s greentech investment is a true global marketplace; you do not need to limit your investment choices just in your local market. If you are looking for GreenTech Investors, please check out http://researchwhitepaper.com for our Global CleanTech Capital Providers Guide.