Its not just lack of money, cleantech start-ups sink because of failure to appreciate the engineering expertise they need
Venture capital investments have a high failure rate. Investors go in convinced that there is a market need, a technology to meet that need, and a management team with the drive and skill to make it happen. Still, things go wrong. Are the reasons for the failures of cleantech (clean energy, clean water, resource efficiency) investments any different from other venture start-up areas?
The answer is yes. Cleantech failures seem to occur mostly between lab/demonstration and commercialisation often referred to as crossing the valley of death. This is different from software inventions, which can usually be made commercially available but fail if they cant seize the imagination of the market.