2014 Corporate Water Investment Up Over Second Half of 2013

by | Aug 4, 2014

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Global Water Tech chartCorporate investment in water and wastewater was up by 53 percent during the first half of 2014 compared to the second half of 2013, according to the Cleantech Group.

However, water and wastewater is still a relatively small portion of venture and corporate investment compared to areas such as energy efficiency and transportation, the Group notes.

Corporate and venture equity investment in water and wastewater technology totaled $140 million across 33 venture deals in the first half of 2014. In the second half of 2013, $91 million was raised by water and wastewater companies.

While dollar count is up compared to the second half of 2013, deal count and dollar amount are still close to half of the $317 million across 58 deals entered into in the first half of 2012.

Although water and wastewater continues to attract corporate and venture investment, oil and gas continues to be one of the largest target markets for investors. Investors and corporations such as Coca-Cola, ConocoPhillips, XPV Capital, and EnerTech Capital have all put money into the sector in 2014.

Despite the relatively low amount of venture financing in the sector, companies ranging from 3M to Veolia to Opower have entered into partnerships with start-ups such as Water Planet Engineering, Desalitech, and WaterSmart Software, respectively. Incubators such as ImagineH2O are continuing to find and nurture promising young companies.

In addition to supplying market intelligence for the sustainability sector, the Cleantech Group also compiles an annual list of the top 100 global companies most likely to have a significant market impact over the next five to 10 years.

In its 2013 list, fifty-one of the 100 companies were new entrants, which Cleantech Group says shows the popularity of new cleantech subsectors among investors.

However, despite increasing interest, global investment in climate change has plateaued, according to a study released last year by the Climate Policy Initiative.

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