2010年上半年，智能电网、储能、电动汽车领域的风险投资总额为17.9亿美元，但未来12个月这一数值将降低到15.4亿美元，这其中的72%的投资将用于D轮或后几轮投资。
2011年上半年，这几个领域的企业并购总计24.2亿美元，比2010年总计12亿美元的并购额超过了一倍多。
Lux Research 的研究员Steve Minnihan说：“风险投资从智能电网、储能以及电动汽车领域撤资后，对于早期企业来说，他们将没有任何手段来开展示范项目或者扩大生产规模。”“毫不奇怪，资本雄厚的竞争者企业主进入这个市场，肯定要评估知识产权、制造能力和客户水平。”
关键信息：
•智能电网、储能、电动汽车启停系统领域的种子基金（Seed funding）和A轮投资基本没有，风险投资企业的兴趣点集中于制造企业，而不是寻求新的机会；
•44%的企业并购交易没有任何外部资金，完成了企业第三轮或后几轮投资的公司中只有28%的公司发生了企业并购行为。总的来说，智能电网领域的并购更倾向于拥有技术和产品的小公司，这些小公司的产品可以为并购公司的现有产品带来利润，并有一些行之有效的商业化应用；
•汽车和燃料电池领域的总投资占2011年风险投资的66%，汽车领域的蓬勃发展得益于6个汽车启停系统，这一系统的投资从2010年初到现在已经获得了总计6.64亿美元的投资。同时，燃料电池企业从2010年初到现在获得了总计3.17亿美元的投资。
From the high of US$1.79 billion in venture funding in the first half of 2010, funding for storage, smart grid and electric vehicle companies has dwindled to only US$1.54bn in the following 12 months – 72% of which was channelled into Series D and later-stage rounds.
M&A transactions totalled US$2.42bn in all three sectors during the first half of 2011 – more than double the US$1.20bn exchanged during all of 2010.
Two deals comprised most activity in each year: ABB’s acquisition of Ventyx in 2010 (US$1bn), and Toshiba’s acquisition of Landis+Gyr in 2011 (US$2.3bn). All told, the electric vehicle, smart grid, and energy storage sectors saw a total of 13 transactions in 2010, and another 12 during the first half of this year.
“As VCs have withdrawn from the smart grid, energy storage and EV sectors, they’ve left a crowded landscape of stranded, early-stage ventures without any means to finance demonstration pilots or manufacturing scale-up,” says Steve Minnihan, a Lux Research Analyst and the report’s lead author.
“Not surprisingly, well-capitalised competitors and corporate players have swept in, looking to acquire valuable intellectual property, manufacturing capabilities, and client lists at bargain valuations.”
Key findings:
Seed funding and Series A deals have virtually disappeared for smart grid, energy storage, and EV start-ups as VCs focus their efforts on maturing companies in their portfolio rather than seeking new opportunities;
Companies that received no outside funding accounted for 44% of all M&A transactions, while companies that completed a Series C round or later account for only 28% of acquisitions. Overall, acquirers in the smart-grid space are favouring low-value acquisitions of small companies with a technology or product that supplements their existing product portfolio and has some proven commercial adoption; and
The automotive and fuel cell segments combined represented 66% of all VC spending in 2011. Automotive continues to thrive thanks to six vehicle start-ups that have claimed US$664 million since the beginning of 2010. Meanwhile, fuel cell companies raised US$371m over 39 transactions since the start of 2010.