Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Green, Green Valley
2008 is shaping up to be the year of "Green Tech". Green technology has been gaining momentum over the past couple of years, but Web 2.0 companies led by Facebook, MySpace, Digg and YouTube had previously dominated the lion's share of attention, press, and VC dollars.
Discussion at the numerous startup networking sessions in the valley is shifting from SEO and unique visitors to solar, biofuel, energy efficient LEDs, and hybrid and electric cars. $124/barrel gas, the rising costs of rice and corn, and a robust VC funding environment has pushed green tech into the spotlight.
2008 is shaping up to be the year of "Green Tech". Green technology has been gaining momentum over the past couple of years, but Web 2.0 companies led by Facebook, MySpace, Digg and YouTube had previously dominated the lion's share of attention, press, and VC dollars.Discussion at the numerous startup networking sessions in the valley is shifting from SEO and unique visitors to solar, biofuel, energy efficient LEDs, and hybrid and electric cars. $124/barrel gas, the rising costs of rice and corn, and a robust VC funding environment has pushed green tech into the spotlight.
Many of the people I frequently run into at networking events have shifted their focus from web 2.0 to green tech. Interest in green tech is largely being fueled by the VC's growing interest in this sector. Kleiner Perkins recently made news with their $500 million "Green Growth" fund led by Al Gore.
There are some exciting innovations coming from Silicon Valley in Green Tech including biofuels, solar, electric/hybrid cars, and LED lighting to name a few. With the influx of VC money and talent looking to tackle alternative energy, fuel efficiency, and earth friendly materials, it will be exciting to see how many Facebook, Digg, YouTube successes will emerge from the green tech sector.
It is impressive to see how quickly Silicon Valley mobilizes and moves on to the "next big thing" as evidenced by the shift from Web 2.0 to Green Tech. Many of the players are the same, but the game has changed. A reason that Silicon Valley is seen as an innovation center is largely due to the fact that the key participants - technologists, enterpreuners and VC's - fearlessly tackle new challenges in hopes of capitilizing on the opportunties of these emerging markets.
Labels: al gore, green growth, green technology, kleiner perkins, silicon valley, vc funding
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