Venture investor sees "clean technology" gaining speed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Some venture capitalists within a year will begin selling young "clean technology" companies, accelerating interest in alternative energy and power efficiency among a broad group of investors, VantagePoint Managing Partner Alan Salzman said on Tuesday.

Clean technology, a term that can include everything from solar energy to fuel cells to better batteries, has been popular with investors as oil prices climbed over the last couple of years, but many companies are just getting started.

Salzman said some companies he knew would be sold by venture capitalists well within 12 months from now.

"You haven't seen the acceleration in clean technology that I think will occur when the first venture-backed successes come in. You know, when there are the MySpaces and Skypes of the clean tech world," he told the Reuters Venture Capital Summit, referring to online networking site MySpace and Internet phone company Skype, which were also sold by venture firms.

Salzman's group sold Intermix, the company behind MySpace, to News Corp. NWSa.N.

"I think the level of enthusiasm for the space only gets accelerated when you've got the first successful exits going on," he added, referring to when venture capitalists exit their investments by selling to bigger companies or publicly offering shares.

Global warming, high energy prices and a general push for energy security were fueling interest in the field among consumers and governments, he said.

But Salzman acknowledged that in recent years there had been more talk than action.

"The thing we really should have invested in is clean tech conferences," he joked.