Gore joins green VC

Al Gore is to join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) as part of a move designed to increase the venture capitalist's clout in the burgeoning clean tech market.

As part of the arrangement, KPCB has inked an alliance with sustainability-focused investment and research firm Generation Investment Management, which Gore founded in 2004 with former Goldman Sachs partner David Blood.

The alliance will see the two VCs collaborate to identify and fund green business, technology and policy solutions to climate change.

Meanwhile, Gore will join KPCB as a partner in its clean tech division and is expected to play an active role in identifying and developing green investments.

Gore said the alliance would unite a wide range of business talent covering both large and small operations and public and private firms. "Together, we have a working understanding of this urgent, multi-dimensional [climate] challenge and are resolved to help business and government leaders accelerate the development of sustainable solutions," he added.

The companies said the partnership would see KPCB continue to invest in startup venture capital while Generation will focus on investing in global public equities, with both firms focusing on opportunities spanning renewable energy technologies, building efficiency, cleaner fossil energy, sustainable agriculture and carbon markets.

Generation co-founder and managing partner David Blood said the alliance would help address the current funding shortfall affecting the clean tech sector. "There is a significant gap between the capital needed and the capital currently deployed to create enduring solutions to the climate crisis," he argued. "To address this financing gap will require the efforts of many players, including entrepreneurial ventures, multinational businesses, governments, multilaterals and investors."