Richard Branson’s Virgin Green Fund
Posted by Kelly Smith on Tue, May 18, 2010
Richard Branson’s Virgin Green Fund is doing a different kind of green investment. Virgin Green Fund is seeking to invest in established companies that are developing renewable energy and resource efficiency technologies. Virgin Green Fund’s portfolio includes renewable energy companies working on biofuels, biomass, fuel cells, geothermal, hydro, solar, and wind. They also invest in resource efficiency businesses in areas such as emissions reduction, energy efficiency, energy storage, monitoring systems, waste management, water management, and transport.
It is often much easier for start-up companies to get funding in the early years. Virgin Green Fund’s philosophy is a little different. They want to keep green companies in business once they are well-established and running smoothly but may not have access to additional financial support for expansion or other projects when they need it.
Virgin Green Fund is not alone in opting to invest in sustainable businesses in their teenage or young adult years. According to a recent New York Times article, “From 2007 to 2009, the total venture capital invested in clean technology companies dropped 15 percent, according to the National Venture Capital Association. But a parsing of those numbers shows that investment in late-stage companies actually increased 19 percent, to $821 million, while early-stage companies took the biggest hit, with dollars decreasing 41 percent, to $550 million.” Perhaps investors are seeing these already established green businesses as a safer bet for investment during uncertain economic times.
An example of a Virgin Green Fund project is their investment in GreenRoad. GreenRoad is an innovative green technology that gives real-time feedback to drivers about the safety and fuel-efficiency of their driving. GreenRoad tells drivers to do things that will save them gas, such as braking more smoothly rather than slamming on the brakes. Virgin Green Fund is one of the main investors in this green company which is concerned with both driver safety and environmental safety.
Neither Virgin Green Fund nor GreenRoad are currently members of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership, but purchase of green electricity would certainly be another way for them to fulfill their green missions.