Google, Yahoo Seed Funders Look to Energy-Saving Companies

 

In the May issue I wrote about how the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center is making efficiency sexy as an investment to Silicon Valley VCs and big companies alike. Now The New York Times has caught on, reporting that Sequoia Capital, which made its name seeding Yahoo and Google, has invested in SynapSense, a UC Davis company mentioned in my story that uses sensors to lower the energy use of data centers; Google's venture fund and top green fund Kleiner Perkins, meanwhile, have invested in Silver Spring Networks, a smart meter company. Investors like that in today's harsh economic climate, companies like these have the potential to be efficient not only with energy, but with capital too. 

Image: one of SynapSense's readouts shows areas of heat in a data center.

BY Anya Kamenetz, Fast Company
Tue May 12, 2009 at 6:06 PM