“It’s really geared toward science experiments,” Mr. Khosla said. “The goal there is very much to take risks that nobody else will take.”
Khosla Ventures, the firm he founded in 2004, is announcing on Tuesday that it has raised $1.1 billion in two funds that will invest in green technology and information technology start-ups. The two funds represent the largest amount raised by a Venture Capitalist firm since 2007.
Khosla Ventures will make initial investments of $5 million to $15 million from its main $800 million fund. The smaller $275 million fund will seed very early-stage ideas with investments of around $2 million.
After a period of hyperactive investment in alternative energy start-ups, investors have been shying away from them, arguing that they cost too much. In the first half of 2008, venture capitalists funneled $2 billion into 139 clean tech start-ups. In the first half of this year, they invested only $513 million in 83 such companies.
Khosla tells the Times now is the time for venture capitalists to step in with big bets that could create the technology to address climate change. “We’re really about reinventing the infrastructure of society, which is the only way we’ll get the carbon footprint down, and we’re not afraid to fail.”
Anne Alexandre.
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