Cleantech Investor

First published in Cleantech Infocus: 2010 - Equity Deals of the Year, January 2011.  Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd

The IPO of electric sports car manufacturer, Tesla, captured the headlines during 2010. Meanwhile, announcements about EV launches came thick and fast from the major OEMs. GM’s November IPO was also significant for the EV sector – although we haven’t included it in our list of cleantech IPOs. GM is committed to the sector through the Chevrolet Volt/Vauxhall-Opel Amera. The motor giant announced after its IPO that it would hire 1,000 engineers and researchers for its EV division.

Elsewhere on public markets, Canada saw the IPO of hybrid electric drive train manufacturer, ISE Ltd, on the TSX. However, ISE subsequently delisted. Significant private equity deals for EV manufacturers included fund raising for Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive in the US and Korea’s CT&T United.

Meanwhile, amongst EV infrastructure companies, Better Place led the charge with a $350 million fund raising. Other infrastructure companies raising investment included Coulomb Technologies and Epyon.