GE Has Cash, Seeks Startups

January 26th, 2009 by Jennifer Kho

It may be a bad time to seek funding, but some cleantech investors see it as a good time to get a deal. At the Clean-Tech Investor Summit in Indian Wells, Calif., last week, Kevin Walsh, managing director of renewable energy for GE Energy Financial Services, said GE is taking advantage of the economic environment to snag good deals and is also looking at smart-grid and energy-efficiency opportunities. “We’re being opportunistic,” he said. “You’ll see more deals on the venture side in the next few months.”

GE Equity and GE Energy Financial Services last week announced they had invested in TPI Composites, which makeslight-weight wind-turbine blades. Other investors in the $20 million round include Landmark Growth Capital Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners and the Angeleno Group.

Even though industry groups say venture-capital funding has fallen off, a number of other startups also have closed rounds this rounds, including GoodGuide, Ze-Gen, SolFocus, ZeaChem and Sentilla.

While investors are definitely being cautious, they are also looking for the right places to put their money. Andy Katell, senior vice president of communications at GE Energy Financial Services, told me this TPI funding signals — among other thing — that GE has capital to invest.

Image of Kevin Walsh, courtesy of GE Energy Financial Services









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