Exploring corporate venture capital investments in clean energy—a focus on the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

Climate change has been posing an increasing threat to the planet at the environmental and economic levels, and the rise of clean energy (CE) is ever more fundamental for ensuring a qualified alternative for the energy mix, attracting the financial interest of different investment entities. In this respect, the significance of corporate venture capitalists (CVCs) has been on a steady rise for every sector, even for CE, since the 1990 s, and it is shaping up to become a major force behind the worldwide innovation. The aim of this research is to investigate the essential profiles about the phenomenon regarding CVCs that are active in CE, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, to understand how they act in pursuing their strategic intention. The specific contribution of this study, which adopts a quantitative approach to operate a descriptive analysis on the dynamics operating in the context under investigation by combining relating data from several institutional databases, is to provide a scenario analysis with explorative intention that may define the main characteristics, roles in innovation, and growing participation of CVCs in the CE sector, especially in the APAC area.