Renewable energy is the future of the industry, and there is no shortage of start-ups working to build towards it. Start-ups, however, need to have investors with the money and guidance to help them turn "tomorrow" into "today." The social media accounts of those investors and their firms serve as an invaluable source of what's hot in the energy industry today.
To save our readers the time spent figuring out who to follow, we've compiled a list of 10 of the best clean energy venture capitalists and firms worth following on Twitter.
1. JON SAKODA
On Twitter: @jonsakoda
New Enterprise Associates partner Jon Sakoda has investment interests in a number of sectors. Utility-wise, he serves as a board member for two energy tech start-ups. One of those companies, Opower, is an energy efficiency service-as-a-software company providing a usage analytics platform, while the other, Suniva, Inc., manufactures silicon solar cells and high-power solar modules.
New frontier for @opower -- using big data and behavioral science to help small and medium businesses save energybit.ly/10lxBmf
— Jon Sakoda (@jonsakoda) March 28, 2013
2. WARREN HOGARTH
On Twitter: @warrenhogarth
Warren Hogarth is a partner at Sequoia Capital with interests in cloud computing and bioinformatics, as well as energy. Most notably in the utilities sector, he’s partnered with home solar power provider SunRun. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has also been a guest scientist at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.
Lynn putting in a plug for SF: @sunrun and San Francisco - where the world changes! bit.ly/UvfXPf
— Warren Hogarth (@warrenhogarth) February 6, 2013
3. DAVID MOUNT
On Twitter: @dbmount
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) greentech team member David Mount has investments in the smart grid, lighting, wind, storage, industrial efficiency and energy enterprise software. Among the start-ups he works with are Opower and utility-scale wind farm operation and maintenance provider UpWind Solutions. He has been a partner at the firm since 2008.
Choose Energy - empowering consumers and providing insight to energy retailers in a fast-changing mkt RT @katiefehren bit.ly/13tBnAl
— Dave Mount (@dbmount) March 26, 2013
4. BROOK PORTER
On Twitter: @brookporter
Another partner on the KPCB greentech team, Brook Porter’s interests are in low-carbon transportation solutions, chemicals, power generation and energy storage. Investments include fuel cell companies like Bloom Energy and Elcomax, as well as Orcan, an energy efficiency company that converts waste heat to electricity. For over a decade before joining KPCB, Porter worked in renewable energy and co-founded several companies, and he is named on numerous U.S. and international patents.
Bill Gates backs Sodium Ion batteries for grid storage.Congrats @aquion_energy on an impressive $35M financing! bloom.bg/12c5xal
— Brook Porter (@brookporter) April 3, 2013
5. KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
On Twitter: @kpcb
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have numerous investments in renewable energy and greentech, as well as a high-profile greentech team member in former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Along with the aforementioned companies, other greentech start-ups in their portfolio include MiaSolé, Enphase Energy and FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp.
Join @kpcb's @brookporter at Future Energy & see 8 cleantech startups pitch to investor panel TONIGHT @ Stanford 6pmuls.bz/11zt1D1
— Kleiner Perkins (@kpcb) April 24, 2013
6. BEJUL SOMAIA
On Twitter: @bsomaia
Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Bejul Somaia serves as managing director of the firm’s India operations and counts Indian Energy Exchange among his investments. IEX is notably India’s first power exchange and the first electronic power exchange in the world to operate in a supply deficit scenario. He was previously a consultant with Bain & Company, as well as an equity capital markets banker with Salomon Brothers.
This @livemint article explains why a market for power (IEX) is absolutely essential. "CERC and the power market" bit.ly/17J57IE
— Bejul Somaia (@bsomaia) April 25, 2013
7. LIGHTSPEED VENTURE PARTNERS
On Twitter: @lightspeedvp
Like KPCB, Lightspeed Venture Partners also has an extensive energy portfolio and often Tweets about developments with its companies and the energy sector. Also included in its energy portfolio are Solar Edge, STION and home energy management company Nest Labs. According to its website, many executives from its past portfolio companies have also chosen Lightspeed as their lead investor for subsequent ventures.
"@nest's Plans to Stop Brownouts Before They Happen" by '@stevenlevy wired.com/business/2013/…
— Lightspeed (@lightspeedvp) April 24, 2013
8. NANCY PFUND
On Twitter: @NancyPfundDBL
Nancy Pfund is a managing partner with DBL Investors and currently sponsors or sits on the boards of several renewable energy companies. Her current investments include Brightsource Energy, Inc., SolarCity and Solaria. In addition to investing in green energy, Pfund is on the board of directors for the California Clean Energy Fund.
Lyndon Rive SolarCity story in NYT’s The Boss – Turning Toward the Sun – company’s amazing job growth!
— Nancy Pfund (@NancyPfundDBL) April 23, 2013
9. CYNTHIA RINGO
On Twitter: @CynthiaRingoDBL
DBL Investors’ other managing partner, Cynthia Ringo, joined the firm in 2008. Her green energy investments include thin film PV technology developer Solexant, as well as energy efficient glassmaker View Dynamic Glass. Ringo is also an adviser to Silicon Valley leadership forum SVForum and Astia, which supports women entrepreneurs.
Join the @c3e_energywomen Women in Clean Energy Twitter Chat tomorrow @ 2:30 pm ET with my DBL partner @nancypfunddbl use #C3EWomen
— Cynthia Ringo (@CynthiaRingoDBL) April 16, 2013
10. DRAPER FISHER JURVETSON VENTURE CAPITAL
On Twitter: @DFJvc
SolarCity and SCIenergy, the first energy management platform in the cloud, are among the energy start-ups that Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Capital Managing Director John Fisher holds board positions at. While Fisher doesn’t operate a personal Twitter account, DFJ does tweet developments with its portfolio companies, which also include Brightsource and Solar Junction, on its own account.
Lyndon Rive of @solarcity talks with @nytimes on his career: ow.ly/kjnwG
— DFJ Venture Capital (@DFJvc) April 22, 2013
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