Cascadia Capital: Behind the Weak 2012 Q1 Numbers

Cascadia Capital‘s latest newsletter finds silver lining in gray cleantech investment clouds.  Global cleantech financing in the first quarter of 2012 was down 19% compared to Q4 2011 and 31% compared to Q1 2011.  Average deal sizes decreased significantly, as well.  However:

  • 44% of all of Q1 financings were early stage.  Investors are more comfortable with risks in early stage deals.  Secondly, early stage companies have business models and technology that investors find attractive.
  • The Mergers and Acquisitions market picked up in Q1 2012–$15.1 billion in deals were announced, which was a significant increase from Q4.  Cascadia Capital expects M&A in the sector to continue to be robust into the forseeable future.

Source:  Cascadia Capital, Newsletter, June, 2012.