OVP's new green strategy, same as the old strategy says Chad Waite

(The Wandering Angel via Flickr)

OVP Venture Partners has a new favorite color -- green.  And it is not just about the color of money, though the Kirkland venture firm hopes that will come over time.

OVP has ramped up its investment pace in recent months in green technologies, a move that could differentiate the 25-year-old firm from some of its peers in the Pacific Northwest. It has even added a clean tech section to its Web site.

The latest investment for OVP is Seattle energy storage company Energ2, which recently pulled in $8.5 million and announced its plans for developing materials for battery alternatives. Other clean tech investments include Verdezyne, M2E Power, Tigo Energy and CarbonFlow.

And I am told that OVP's Chad Waite and Carl Weissman are working on yet another deal. And this one --unlike the last four mentioned above -- is based in the Seattle area. Meanwhile, OVP's Rick LeFaivre is spending time at the UW in search of breakthrough nanophotonic and nanomaterial technologies.

Is the firm hopping on the green bandwagon? Not at all, says Waite, who believes the investment strategy fits perfectly with the firm's approach.

"It is really thematic about the way we think about the world. It is not so much green tech as it is infrastructure," Waite said.

As it relates to clean tech, Waite said the firm would not invest directly in ethanol plants, wind farms or other large-scale projects. In fact, with oil dropping below $50 a barrel today, Waite said most ethanol plants are "sucking wind" right now.

Instead, OVP wants to provide the tools -- the picks and shovels if you will -- for the clean tech revolution. In that regard, he offers the example of a company like San Francisco-based Carbonflow which is developing software that makes the carbon credit market more efficient.

In that regard, Waite said it is not unlike OVP's digital biology strategy that they implemented earlier this decade. Rather than investing in the drug makers themselves (though OVP does some of that too through its backing of Accelerator) Waite said he is most interested in the software tools that will help drug researchers do their jobs more effectively.

The clean tech approach is the same thing. "We really do think it is the platforms... It is the underlying technologies to help you get there," he said.

Obviously, like with all emerging industries, picking winners at an early-stage is very tough. But there's no shortage of capital flowing, with clean tech companies attracting $1 billion in venture financing in the third quarter. That was a 14 percent increase over the previous quarter.

But as I have pointed out in the past, many of the Seattle venture firms have steered clear of clean tech.  It will be interesting to see if OVP's "picks and shovels" approach strikes green gold.

Flickr photo via The Wandering Angel