Clean Tech Investment Best Practices
Typical elements of a successful Clean Tech investment capital system include:
1) An entrepreneurship development program that helps Clean Tech entrepreneurs develop skills needed at different stages of business development and a business acceleration support system to assist Clean Tech companies at different stages with:
- Market analysis and business planning.
- Capital raising and offering memoranda.
- Management team recruiting.
- Acquisition of high quality business services.
- Board development.
- Physical space and back office support infrastructure.
2) A well-integrated capital pipeline that supports Clean Tech businesses as they move from one stage of development to another. This would include:
- Seed and angel capital networks and funds.
- Venture capital networks and funds.
- Working capital and growth capital.
- Venture debt, mezzanine debt, and commercial debt.
- Private equity investment.
3) An intellectual property (IP) commercialization infrastructure that links Clean Tech entrepreneurs and investors to potential sources of IP at universities, federal labs, private labs, and other sources of invention and discovery.
4) A strong business attraction, retention, and expansion program that works with existing Clean Tech companies to help them grow in the region, and targets, recruits, and locates appropriate Clean Tech companies.
5) Peer networks that connect Clean Tech business entrepreneurs, management, and workforce with each other in ways that maximize generative relationship building.
6) A business development infrastructure that integrates all these pieces at the regional level and engages appropriate state and federal resources.