While the IPO market has focused heavily on the social networking and social media sectors, the greatest part of venture founding in the country has actually gone into green technology of late, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Venture investing as a whole took a major hit in the third quarter, dropping to an eight-year low of $1.7 billion, down from $3.5 billion just one year ago, according to a recent report from consultancy Ernst & Young.
Of that $1.7 billion, however, a surprising $421 million went to green technologies, ranging from solar energy to improved battery technologies. That represents a staggering 1,932 percent increase from the year before.
Many expected investment in solar in particular to decline in the wake of the Solyndra collapse, but Judith Albert, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, explained to the Times that venture capitalists are less risk averse and more willing to accept some failed investments.
Forbes‘ Michael Kanellos suggests that solar, and the clean energy sector, ultimately will succeed in drawing investment simply because the product represents an unavoidable demand as compared to the somewhat more fickle markets of social media.
