bubbles

Bubble shmubble, say clean-tech investors

NEW YORK--You can't avoid the bubble question when it comes to clean-tech investing. Get used to it: with a massive movement of capital into the sector projected in the future, people are bound to fret.

It's understandable. Billions of dollars worth of venture capital have gone into this sector, which wasn't on the radar screens of most Sand Hill Road venture capitalists just a few years ago.

A panel of private equity and venture capital investment pros addressed the bubble question at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum here last week. In general, the response was that there … Read more

Bubble 2.0 Watch: Aggregation site Brijit shuts down

Brijit.com, an aggregation site that summed online news stories and other content up in 100 words or fewer for quick consumption, has shut its doors.

The shutdown is ideally temporary, the site's management said Thursday, but a placeholder on the front page admitted that Brijit "is out of money and can no longer afford to bring you the world in 100 words."

A post on Brijit's blog by CEO and Editor In Chief Jeremy Brosowsky explained further. "As recently as yesterday morning, we thought we had the funding in place to continue our work … Read more

Clean tech rides high on oil prices, climate change

With oil prices over $120 per barrel comes a venture capital report entitled "Cleantech Come of Age" from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The upbeat survey finds that venture capitalists put $2.2 billion into clean tech companies last year and that prospects look good.

That's because energy-related issues are hitting consumers at the gas pumps and business executives in the board room.

"There is huge enthusiasm taking place in the cleantech industry and as consumers and corporations increasingly seek new ways to become environmentally responsible, interest and funding directed towards the sector will only continue," Tim Carey, leader … Read more

Bubble 2.0 watch: Mowser withers away, founder seeks 'real job'

It's not like Pets.com closing its doors or anything, but here's another small sign that we could be nearing the beginning of the end of Bubble 2.0: Mowser.com, a start-up that "translates" Web sites into mobile-friendly versions, is dying a quiet death.

Granted, it wasn't a particularly hyped dot-com. But I'm guessing that more than a few start-ups will be commiserating soon.

"We haven't been able to raise funding, and as a site, growth has been flat or falling for the past couple months because of various search-engine tweaks … Read more

Bubble Report: LA parties like it's 1999

The night club was filling up, free drinks were flowing, and Perry Farrell stood behind the DJ table. There was something distinctively bubbly at the TechCrunch/PopSugar "Geek Goes Chic" Meetup in Los Angeles last Thursday, and it wasn't just the personalities of the PopSugar readers.

The party's organizers are only the latest members of the Web scene to bring a little bubble love to Southern California. Social media blogs Mashable and Bub.blicio.us have both hosted LA events in the last month. The move makes sense: Aside from being at the center of the … Read more

Bob Metcalfe's EnerNet embraces 'global warming bubble'

BOSTON--Bob Metcalfe thinks we'll solve global warming if we take our cue from the Internet.

Metcalfe, best known as a co-inventor of the Ethernet and now a venture capitalist at Polaris Venture Partners, on Wednesday laid out his vision of the "EnerNet," the concept of applying the lessons of building the Internet to the energy business.

Speaking at the AlwaysOn East conference here, Metcalfe said that, despite concerns of overinvestment, the growing energy technology bubble is a good thing.

"There will be many decades of bubbles ahead," he said. "There are people out there … Read more

Solar industry bubble will pop, but continue to grow

The most vexing problem facing the solar electric industry the past few years has been a shortage of silicon, the most common material used to make solar cells.

But once that silicon shortage eases, prices for products could start drop significantly--and dig into solar companies' profits.

Lux Research on Thursday published a summary of a report that predicts that the solar bubble will burst next year.

An oversupply of silicon won't be the only reason that prices will fall, according to Lux's report.

Several other solar technologies are emerging that will give incumbent solar photovoltaic providers more competition, … Read more

Green tech news harvest: will clean energy go down with the economy?

A sampling of green-tech news this week, with an emphasis on how the financial market turmoil may impact ongoing investments in clean energy.

Investor Eric Janszen Says Clean Tech Is Only Hope for the Collapsing Economy - Wired talks to Eric Janszen about his Harpers article on how a clean tech investment bubble is the best thing for the U.S. economy's pattern of credit-driven financial bubbles. SEIA - Solar Energy Industries Association - The Solar Energy Industries Association picks apart a University of California study that says solar electric panels are an economic "loser." Corporate Sponsorship for a Wind Farm - New York Times … Read more

Eliot Spitzer and the Internet bubble

Five years ago, then N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was involved in an investigation into conflicts of interest between research and investment banking at ten of the nation's top investment firms during the Internet bubble.

The landmark $1.4 billion settlement helped put Mr. Spitzer on a fast track to the governor's mansion, but that's not the whole story.… Read more