By Christopher Martin

Startup companies call it the Valley of Death—the arduous terrain between proof of concept and the beginning of mass production and significant sales. In good times, just 40 percent of companies go public or get acquired, according to John Taylor, head of research at the National Venture Capital Assn. in Arlington, Va.

Now the Valley is even deadlier. Hundreds of U.S. cleantech startups find themselves stuck on the road to serious revenues because of the toxic combination of a stalled economy, scarce funding, and Washington’s failure to enact comprehensive climate and energy legislation. The market for initial public offerings is frozen and venture capital is drying up because of uncertainty. Faysal Sohail, a managing director at CMEA Capital, a San Francisco fund that helps oversee $1.2 billion in venture capital investments, says that at the start of the year he had six profitable companies that were ready to go public but couldn’t. “It’s a sour mood,” he adds.

Wall Street’s interest in these companies has been fueled in part by the Obama Administration’s $787 billion stimulus package, which makes new transportation technologies a priority. Solar panel makers haven’t received a similar boost because of the Administration’s failure to win support for a federal renewable energy mandate and a cap on carbon dioxide emissions, both of which would boost demand for clean power. 

For startups that cannot go public, the next best option is finding deep-pocketed partners willing to pony up millions for new factories and equipment.Such partners are hard to find. And when marriages can be arranged, they take place at an earlier stage, notes Sohail. “It used to be we’d wait for round D to find a partner. Now it’s right away.”

The bottom line: In a market that is less receptive to initial public offerings, more cleantech startups are willing to be acquired in order to survive.

Adapted from http://www.businessweek.com

Sobre as possibilidades de geração de energia alternativa, é correto afirmar que:

I - a maior vantagem da energia produzida pelas ondas do mar é o seu preço.

II - a tecnologia de energia solar tem crescido devido a investimentos governamentais.

III - os custos com energia decorrente de biomassa ainda são muito elevados.

IV - a energia eólica apresenta custos diferentes a depender de onde é coletada.

Assinale a alternativa que contém somente afirmativas corretas.