Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has launched the Green Growth Fund, a $500 million investment vehicle intended to help speed mass market adoption of solutions to the world's
KPCB separately announced the formation of KPCB XIII, a $700 million fund that will invest in green technology, information technology and life sciences ventures. Within the green tech sector, KPCB XIII will mainly back early-stage entrepreneurs, while the Green Growth Fund will support companies that have already entered their growth phase.
The Green Growth Fund is an extension of KPCB's investment efforts, which historically have focused on startups. Current and new partners working on the Green Growth Fund will now offer the firm's company-building expertise to companies that have moved beyond their initial stage.
‘We urgently need to advance our green-tech industry at a speed and scale commensurate with the challenges we face,’ says KPCB partner John Doerr. ‘We believe green technologies are both the key to solving our energy crisis and a tremendous business opportunity.’
KPCB partner John Denniston will co-manage the new fund with Ben Kortlang, who previously co-directed alternative energy investments at Goldman Sachs. KPCB will also add new members to its Green Growth Fund team in the coming year.
The KPCB Green Growth Fund will enable the firm to extend its existing collaboration with London-based Generation Investment Management, whose chairman, Al Gore, former vice president and Nobel Laureate, joined KPCB as Partner last year.
SOURCE: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
