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As with the internet boom before it, the cleantech explosion is inspiring unqiue investment schemes to help drive it and capitalize on it. The dramatic growth of the cleantech sector over the last couple of years, in response to steep gains in energy prices and growing awareness of climate change issues, makes the cleantech sector look rather inviting.
 One of the wrinkles in the investment growth, however, is that unlike the internet boom, which quite literally saw a number of start-ups making their million dollar IPOs from a garage workbench, a cleantech revolution is going to need much greater investment because the infrastructure requirements are that much greater. Competing with the current giants of industry won't necessarily need their record annual profits in the tens of billions of dollars, but they do need billions.
That's one of the concepts behind Steve Newcomb's drive to found a new VC fund, one that doesn't look to a few deep pocketed investors, but to what the IT industry calls "crowdsourcing," lots of little investments from the average investor. Newcomb is the co-founder of search startup Powerset, and sees great potential in both the small investments and collected wisdom of many looking to make a difference. He also envisions a sort of "American Idol" approach to choosing investments, letting investors vote to support what looks the most promising.
And while the "American Idol" comparison might be a bit frightening to some, there's an inherent value in polling a lot of average investors for investment ideas: if nothing else, it's likely to give a better idea of what potential products might be commercially viable. The dotcom bubble could have used a lot of that kind reality checking on some of the ghosts of concepts that earned multi-million dollar IPOs. Which is not to say that a large group of investors is are proof against smooth talkers and pitches filled with attractive buzzwords, but collected wisdom seems more likely to catch on than not.
In all, it's a very creative idea for VC funding. Other interesting sources are coming forward for cleantech investment, including a $15 billion fund out of Dubai called the MASDAR Initiative, which won an award at the Cleantech Forum as Cleantech Leader of the Year. Also, states continue to lead where the federal government lacks, as state treasurers and controllers start putting states' investments into cleantech. Moves like this are sure to bolster the cleantech sector and make 2008 another record-breaking year for investment. And hopefully, with concepts like Newcomb's, that money can be better targeted at ideas that will actually bear fruit.
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