Khosla Ventures, the company he formed in 2004, created a $1.05 billion fund and will steer as much as 65 percent of that to back businesses developing renewable sources of power, energy-efficiency technology and LED lighting products, Khosla said Friday.
In supporting early stage companies with unproven technology, Khosla expects some of them to fail. Lawmakers in Washington have criticized an Energy Department program that followed the same strategy by providing a loan guarantee to Solyndra LLC, the Fremont solar company that filed for bankruptcy last month.
“When you’re trying new things, some things just don’t work,” Khosla said. “Solyndra wasn’t cost competitive with other companies in the valley; there are other companies that are doing fine.”
Khosla is seeking companies that are striving for scientific breakthroughs, such as Soraa Inc., which he has backed since 2007. Soraa has “fundamentally changed the materials on which LEDs are built,” he said. That means there’s “more science risk than just a little bit of engineering.”
He’s also interested in thermoelectric materials, which generate power from waste heat. “Thermoelectrics, if they have a large enough breakthrough, which we hope for, could revolutionize air conditioning, cooling and refrigeration,” Khosla said. They may also revolutionize power generation to become “both a demand-side and a supply-side technology.”
Khosla Ventures said its clean-technology portfolio has generated about $1 billion in profit. That includes gains from the initial public offerings of biofuels companies Amyris Inc., Gevo Inc. and Kior Inc. Khosla has also backed at least two companies that have been acquired by larger entities – solar energy developer Ausra Inc. was bought by Areva SA in 2010 and efficient-motor maker Ramu Inc. by Regal Beloit Corp. in April. www.bgocled.com
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