Happy Earth Day everyone! As consumers care more and more about the societal impact of the companies they engage with, it is becoming increasingly more important for Venture Capitalists to invest in companies that prioritize the environment.
Inc.com has provided the top 10 biggest venture funding events for green companies over the last year. Here are the top 7:
- Boston-Power Inc. - This lithium ion battery provider topped the list with a $250M round of funding from unnamed investors.
- Sunnova Energy Corp - Based in Houston, Sunnova makes it easy for homeowners to go solar and save themselves money in the process. They also earned themselves $250M, tying for #1 on this list, thanks to funding from Triangle Peak Partners and Franklin Square Capital Partners.
- SunRun, Inc. - Another solar company, SunRun is based in San Francisco and has over 60,000+ customers and counting. They earned $150M from Foundation Capital, Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Madrone Capital Partners.
- Hampton Creek - Also based in San Fran, Hampton Creek is bringing sustainability to the food industry by utilizing plant-based proteins in their products. They've raised $120M so far, with $90M in the last round from the likes of Collaborative Fund, Founders Fund, Far East Organization, Khosla Ventures, and some others.
- Impossible Foods - Along the same lines, Impossible Foods creates cheeses and meats from plant-based products. They've raised $75M from Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures, among others.
- Sungevity Inc. - Another residential solar panel company (this one based in Oakland, California) is notable for being the first to design their solar energy systems over the Internet (back in 2007) using satellite imagery. They've pulled $72.5M from E.ON Venture Partners, Brightpath Capital Partners, and others.
- Solexel Inc. - Solexel, based in Milpitas, CA, develops extremely flexible and thin silicon solar cells and modules at a very low cost for a variety of industries. They pulled $65M from GAF Corp., DAG Ventures, and others.