Initially private equity investors avoided renewable energy projects because they believed the industry was overvalued. Recently, that has changed. Private equity firms are now beginning to better understand the renewables sector and are attracted to renewables’ seemingly large immunity to economic cycles.
THE UPSURGE OF VC MEGA FUNDS
PETAL: NO TRAINING WHEELS REQUIRED
Petal, a ‘beginners’ credit card company’ secured another round of funding of $34 million in October from Jefferies and Silicon Valley Bank. This comes several months after raising $13 million from Valar Ventures. Located in New York, one of the main hubs of financial technology (also known as, “Fintech”), Petal is a more developed startup poised to disrupt the credit card industry.
KKR ACQUIRES GEOSTABILIZATION INTERNATIONAL
On November 19th, private equity mega fund KKR & Co. (NYSE:KKR) announced an agreement to acquire GeoStabilization International (GSI) from Canadian private equity firm CAI Capital Partners. GSI is an infrastructure services company that specializes in geohazard mitigation. Their services include landslide repair, bluff stabilization, and rockfall mitigation.
INVESTING IN MARIJUANA STARTUPS WITHOUT TOUCHING THE CANNABIS
In 2017, sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the United States were nearly nine times higher than Oreo cookies and almost on par with Americans’ collective spending on Netflix subscriptions. Annual cannabis retail sales continue to grow year-over-year as new markets emerge and more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana.