VC BACKING BACKS OFF SMART GRID

…Venture Capital Funding in Smart Grid Drops by Half in 2011; $4.6 Billion in Smart Grid M&A Activity in 30 Transactions
(Mercom Capital Group)

"…[A]nnual and fourth quarter merger and acquisition (M&A) and funding activity for the smart grid sector for 2011…[showed VC] funding in smart grid was ‘anemic at best in 2011.’ …[T]he number of VC investors increased to 92 from 87 in 2010, pointing to continued investor interest but lower risk appetite…

"VC funding in 2011 brought in $377 million in 50 deals (24 disclosed) compared to $769 million in 51 deals in 2010 (27 disclosed). The average VC funding round dropped by 50 percent in 2011 to $7.5 million compared to almost $15 million in 2010. Early rounds of funding (Seed, Series A & B) accounted for 22 of the 50 deals."

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"Top VC deals in 2011 were iControl Networks, a broadband home management company ($51.6 million), SmartSynch, a Smart Grid company that uses cellular networks for utility smart grid projects ($25.7 million), Silver Spring Networks, a provider of utility networking equipment for smart grid deployment ($24 million), Gridpoint, an energy management solutions provider ($23.6 million), and JouleX, a provider of energy management systems for data centers and distributed office environments, ($17 million).

"Top venture capital investors in 2011 were GE with six deals, Emerald Technology Ventures with five deals and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers with five deals. The same investors were also the top three in 2010, however, with double the amount of deals each last year. Other top investors were Foundation Capital, Intel Capital and Rockport Capital with four deals each…"