Venture Investments in the Cleantech Sector

Investments in cleantech have helped lead a strong turnaround in the venture capital market after the first quarter of 2009 – pulling ahead of biotech and software as the largest area of investment and closing out the year with more than 75 deals in the month December and the announcement of Hudson Clean Energy Partners’ closing it’s debut fund with over $1 billion in commitments.

In this exclusive LegalMindsTV interview, Chip Korn, a Partner at Sonnenschein Venture Technology Group, takes a look at what factors affected the venture market this year, as well what’s in store for the cleantech sector in 2010, including the role of tax credits on large projects, the impact of government stimulus funds, the move of traditional VC funds into clean tech investments, and the funding outlook for early-stage companies across the broad range of industries that make up the cleantech sector.

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View and download a PDF transcript of the full interview here.

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ATTORNEY INFORMATION

Peter “Chip” L. Korn Jr.
Partner, Sonnenschein Venture Technology Group

Chip Korn is a member of Sonnenschein’s Corporate Practice Group.  His practice emphasizes venture capital and private equity matters, mergers and acquisition, and general corporate counseling for emerging growth companies.

Mr. Korn is engaged in a diverse corporate practice representing emerging technology companies across a range of sectors relating to mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and securities transactions, as well as joint ventures, strategic alliances, and general corporate representation.  He also regularly advises venture capital funds relating to their organizational structure, the issuance of their securities and investments in their portfolio companies.

Mr. Korn works actively with emerging growth and other technology companies, as well as entrepreneurs behind them, at all stages of a company’s growth process from incorporation through exit strategies.

Mr. Korn also has served as a contributing editor for the Encyclopedia of Private Equity and Venture Capital, for which he has authored a quarterly survey of venture capital terms and is a co-author of Leveraged Buyouts, published by ALM’s Law Journal Press.

Prior to joining Sonnenschein, Mr. Korn was a Principal at Fish & Richardson P.C.

Admissions:
New York

FIRM INFORMATION

Sonnenschein’s Venture Technology Group has been ranked in the Top 10 nationally by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst.  In addition, the team has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of the premier national venture capital practices.  Cutting-edge emerging growth and Fortune 500 technology and life sciences companies moving at breakneck speed in competitive markets require nimble, fast-paced counsel at the convergence of finance, strategy, policy and law.

For high potential entrepreneurs, our recently expanded Sprout Incubation/Acceleration Initiative has been a growth catalyst for more than 100 successful start-ups from Silicon Valley to Boston and New York and around the globe. Our success is driven by a multidisciplinary team comprised of more than 200 attorneys and other professionals specializing in venture capital, recovery act and legislative strate­gies, incubation services, M&A and strategic advisory, IP and patent litigation, fund services, licensing and IT transactions, capital markets/IPOs, corporate governance, and outsourcing/Asia.

Sonnenschein’s Venture Technology Group leverages its deep expertise in IT, life sciences and medical devices, digital media, clean technology, telecommunications and data privacy, along with a global network of venture capital and investment banking firms.

For additional information, visit: http://www.sonnenschein.com