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Opportunities
- California’s Clean Tech ventures are on track to raise the second-highest amount of money ever. Investment through the first half of 2022 was only 31.7 percent of its 2021 amount, but also 62 percent of the 2020 amount. The drop-off from last year can be attributed to a single company. Orange County-based Rivian raised more than $5 billion in funding in 2021 before going public. Firms like Rivian are rare, and it is not a surprise that the state has not been able to reach last year’s level. The state is still roughly on track to match last year’s non-Rivian total.
- California is slightly ahead of its 2021 trend in terms of number of deals, having already reached 52 percent of last year’s number. The state is projected to complete 224 clean tech deals by the end of this year if current 2022 trends continue. In general, a jurisdiction’s number of deals is seen as an important barometer for the health of a technology ecosystem. Deal execution signals to firms from outside areas that success is possible, drawing in new firms that are themselves followed by new investors.
Challenge
- Investment in companies related to the built environment, including those working on energy efficiency and heating and cooling, has declined in 2022 after breakthroughs in the two previous years with deals for Autogrid ($85 million) and Span ($31 million). 2022 funding in this category is only at 3 percent of its 2021 level. Companies outside of the state are more specialized in this sector, accounting for 14 percent of clean tech investments in the other 49 states.
