By Boston Business Journal The Massachusetts cleantech industry raised only a slightly larger amount of venture capital in 2010 over 2009, despite the banner year enjoyed by the industry globally, according to the Cleantech Group. Massachusetts cleantech companies raised $398 million in 2010, 2 percent above the $389 million raised by the sector in 2009, the San Francisco-based organization reported. Westborough, Mass.-based advanced battery maker Boston-Power Inc. led the way for the state with a $60 million round in June, later upped to $66.4 million. Massachusetts maintained its place as the second most active state for cleantech VC in 2010, behind California, which raised $3 billion. In North America and worldwide, however, 2010 cleantech venture investment was up by a far higher percentage than in Massachusetts. North American cleantech companies raised $5.2 billion in 2010, up 45 percent from 2009, when the industry raised $3.6 billion in VC, according to the Cleantech Group. And globally, cleantech venture investment was up 28 percent in 2010 over the prior year, with a total of $7.8 billion raised. It marked the second-best year for cleantech VC, behind only 2008, when the industry took in $8.8 billion worldwide. Copyright 2011 American City Business Journals http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2011/01/10/mass-cleantech-vc-flat-in-2010.html?ana=thestreet
