A greener dragon's den

Matching bright green entrepreneurs with sources of investment capital has always been a challenge. It’s one which the newly launched Environmental Investment Network (EIN) aims to overcome. Set up by the Environmental Industries Commission alongside green law firm Clarkslegal, the EIN hopes to speed new products and services to market, by putting investors in touch with developers.

Just as on the BBC show Dragon’s Den, individual investors can team up to form syndicates – something that’s seen as a major advantage by Alice Chapple, director of the sustainable financial markets programme at Forum for the Future.

“It is clearly something that is going to be vital if we are to get past that point where entrepreneurs think there is no money available, and investors say there are no interesting projects to invest in,” she says. “The bulk of institutional investment money will not go into high-risk early stage investment in clean tech. So this is about how you get investors who are willing to take that risk, whether they’re ones looking for the next big commercial venture, or those willing to take some of their returns in environmental terms.”

The EIN will also offer various business skills training, including presentation coaching and advice on intellectual property.

19 September 2007

Iain Aitch