Piper Jaffray expands to cleantech

Piper Jaffray closed $31.8 million from 31 investors for a cleantech fund targeted at $50 million, according to a regulatory filing.

The filing says the fund will focus on private investments, but the executive officers listed in the filing come from Piper Jaffray’s fund-of-fund’s team: Scott Barrington, Danny Zouber and Daniel Donoghue.

The fund is already a limited partner in VantagePoint Cleantech Partners’ $150 million fund, which held a $73.6 million close in August. The Piper Jaffray website says it has been investing in the sector for the last two years.

The cleantech sector captured $843 million, or about 13% of the $6.8 billion of venture capital dollars invested during the second quarter, up from $514 million invested in the first quarter, according to the Cleantech Venture Network.

No doubt emerging firms such as Noventi, which has raised $30 million of a $100 million fund, Sail Venture Partners, which has raised $20 million of a $60 million fund, and Israel Cleantech Ventures, which has just launched its fund, will all be looking toward Piper Jaffray for support. —Alexander Haislip