Greening the future: how venture capital nurtures cleantech companies’ growth in Europe

The paper examines the impact of venture capital (VC) financing on the growth of cleantech companies, using newly available data and a more comprehensive perspective on the sector. The analysis is conducted on a sample of 24,538 European cleantech companies identified using machine learning techniques, 401 of which received a first VC investment between 1988 and 2023. To adequately control for selection bias, we applied a matching procedure that allowed the creation of two control groups: one consisting of non-VC-backed cleantech companies and another of non-cleantech VC-backed companies. Our analysis reveals that, in terms of selection, investors discount the inherent risk of the sector by investing in fast-growing cleantech companies. Regarding the impact of VC on invested cleantech companies, when the differences at selection are neutralised, our results suggest that VC effectively supports the growth of invested cleantech companies, with a more pronounced effect in the short term.