Khosla Ventures, the Menlo Park, CA-based venture capital firm focusing on cleantech and information technology start ups, announced a strategic partnership with Tony Blair Associates.
According to an official press release, “Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his team will leverage his advocacy for environmental issues and his global relationships to help Khosla’s broad portfolio of clean technology companies maximize their effectiveness in achieving their environmental goals”.
Founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Khosla Ventures has today a broad clean technology portfolio (including solar, energy storage, nuclear power, wind and high-efficiency engines), as well as holdings in traditional technology sectors such as mobility, Internet and silicon.
Commenting on the new partnership, Mr. Blair was quoted as saying: “Solving the climate crisis is more than just a political agenda item – it’s an urgent priority that requires innovation, creativity, and ambition.
“I share a clear vision with Vinod, one of the earliest leaders in cleantech investment, that entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond will have a tremendous impact on our environmental future.
“Vinod’s portfolio companies are galvanizing scientific and technological know-how into businesses that can make a huge difference in reducing carbon and other emissions, and I look forward to dedicating a portion of my time to help them move us toward a more sustainable tomorrow”, he concluded.
Mr. Khosla added: “We believe in attempting to achieve the ‘Chindia price point’, the price at which even developing countries will voluntarily adopt these carbon efficient technologies.
“It’s a price that is either cheaper than fossil alternatives or can achieve less than one year payback for efficiency investments, and is the key to scalable global adoption of environmentally beneficial technologies.
“With Tony’s advice and influence, we will create opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators to devise practical solutions that can solve today’s most pressing crisis at a global scale while creating new jobs, new businesses and new sources of sustainable growth. Many more Google, Apple and Facebook-like new companies will be created in the environmental space based on breakthrough black swan technologies”.
* In the photo, Vinod Khosla and Tony Blair today at the Khosla Ventures Limited Partner Summit near San Francisco, Ca. (Photo by Jakub Mosur).
FinSMEs
24/05/2010