Clean Technology Investments Bounce Back

Investors favored electric car-related startups, which captured $704 million in the first three months of this year.
In another sign of a rebound for green technology, global investors poured $1.9 billion into green tech startups in the first three months of the year, up 29 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 and an 83 percent rise from the same quarter a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by the Cleantech group and and Deloitte The bounce back in venture investment from lows in early 2009 has continued, with the first three months of 2010 representing the strongest start to a year we have ever recorded,” Sheeraz Haji, president of Cleantech Group, said in a statement.

The Cleantech Group, a San Francisco market research and consulting firm, and Deloitte, the international accounting company, surveyed investments made in 180 companies in North America, Europe, Israel, China and India.

Investors favored electric car-related startups, which captured $704 million in the first quarter of 2010. Half of that investment went to Better Place, a Silicon Valley company that has struck deals to build charging stations and other infrastructure in Australia, California, Canada, Denmark, Hawaii and Israel.


Two California electric carmakers, Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive, took in $140 million and $30 million, respectively.

Solar startups scored $322 million, with the solar cell maker SpectraWatt, an Intel spinoff, receiving $41.4 million and Enphase Energy, which makes microinverters for solar panel systems, taking in $40 million.

Energy efficiency companies continued to attract investors, with lighting startups making some of the biggest deals of the $217 million invested in first quarter. Although North American's share of green tech deals in 2009 fell to 62 percent from 72 percent, the region was responsible for 81 percent of investments in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 133 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Europe accounted for 14 percent of the deals while China had 4 percent and India 1 percent.

Computer Repair and Maintenance (Business start-up project)

Hello readers I"d like to tell what costs needs this project let's started
Business Overview
Everybody with a computer knows that moment of panic when the hard drive crashes--and for businesspeople, it usually happens when they're staring into the eye of a deadline. But if you're a computer physician capable of diagnosing virtual ills and then repairing them, you can take on the appearance of an angel of mercy as a computer repair specialist. You'll drive out to clients' homes or offices with your briefcase of tools and equipment and heal those sickly computers and printers. You can also earn tidy revenues with preventive maintenance--dusting or vacuuming innards and cleaning disk drives on a quarterly or semiannual basis. The advantages to this business are that it's recession-proof--businesses need computers to operate, and home-computer buffs can't live without their virtual pals, either. And since the computer industry is one of exponential growth, peripheral industries like computer maintenance and repair are here to stay. As a final plus, this business is satisfying--people are always appreciative when you bring an acutely ill hard drive or printer back to health. You'll need to have the knowledge and skills of a good computer physician, including how to change montherboards repair and replace hard drives, and add memory chips. And you should have a good computer-side manner so you can soothe panicky owners and tactfully instill the benefits of good preventive maintenance.
Computer Repair and Maintenance
Startup cost :2000$-10 000$
Home Based: Can be operated from home
Part Time: Can be operated part-time
The Market
Your clients can be anybody with a computer, both businesses and individuals. Mail brochures, perhaps with a dentist-type appointment card to be filled in, to local businesses. Leave business cards and fliers with computer and software retailers. Place ads in the Yellow Pages and your local newspaper, and get yourself written up in the paper. Give talks on computer maintenance to professional and civic organizations and at local colleges and other adult-education centers.

Needed Equipment
You'll need a computer, an inkjet or laser printer, computer tinkering tools like screwdrivers and miniature vacuums, computer cleaning supplies, diagnostic software, commonly used parts and reference manuals. In some states, you'll need a license and a commercial shop to perform repairs; be sure to check with the business licensing department.

Oil rises near $86 on signs of stronger US economy

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose to near $86 a barrel Friday in Asia after robust U.S. retail sales in March pointed to growing consumer demand in the world's biggest energy market.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 32 cents to $85.71 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 49 cents to settle at $85.39 on Thursday.

Discounter Target Corp., department store Macy's Inc., clothier Gap Inc. and Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands Inc. posted Thursday double-digit increases in March sales that beat Wall Street analysts' expectations.

Overall, sales in stores open at least a year rose 9 percent in March, based on an index of 31 retailers compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Oil had bounced between $69 and $84 for about nine months before spurting to above $87 earlier this week.

"The strong retail sales are a part of the positive economic news coming out of the U.S. over the last few weeks," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "That's what's been supporting the break out in oil prices."

Crude was also boosted by investor expectations that China might allow its currency to rise, which would make dollar-based commodities such as oil cheaper for investors with yuan and might increase demand.

In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil added 1.11 cent to $2.2393 a gallon, and gasolin
gained 0.62 cent to $2.3045 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.3 cents to $3.922 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was up 39 cents at $85.20 on the ICE futures exchange

An Entrepreneur Sees Green

With his usual promotional flair and with former President Bill Clinton at his side, Sir Richard Branson announced last week that over the next decade he would put $3 billion in personal profits toward development of energy sources that do not contribute to global warming The pledge by Sir Richard, the serial entrepreneur and adventurer, came during the Clinton Global Initiative, a three-day meeting in New York where the world’s wealthy seemed to try to out-do each other in their philanthropic commitments.

But is Sir Richard giving his money away, or investing it?

He will be looking for a return on his money. His earnings from his Virgin Group’s airline and railroad companies will be used to invest in new and existing companies that make energy that could replace fossil fuels. It’s an open question whether any of these projects will succeed; the history of alternative energy development is littered with failures or, at best, niche successes. “Some will be profitable, some will not be profitable,” Sir Richard said, acknowledging the difficulty of forecasting investment success in the field.

He has already started chipping away at the $3 billion figure: Earlier this month, Mr. Branson announced the creation of Virgin Fuels, which will invest $400 million in development of nonpetroleum fuels. Some $70 million of that has already been invested in Cilion, a new company based in California that plans to build ethanol plants.

Other investors in Cilion include Yucaipa Companies, the private equity firm of the supermarket billionaire Ronald W. Burkle, and Advanced Equities Financial, a venture capital investment bank.

Everybody loves Warren Buffett

Everybody loves Warren Buffett.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc - the investment vehicle run by Buffett, the so-called sage of Omaha - topped a list of the best-regarded US companies, although the public has a dim view of corporate America overall after a brutal economic downturn.

After a recession that prompted the US government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on corporate bailouts, 81 percent of Americans told Harris Interactive ( that business's reputation is "not good" or "terrible."

That marked a slight improvement from last year, when 88 percent took that view and was the second-worst rating since Harris began asking that question in 2002.

The best year was 2004, when 68 percent of respondents said corporate America's reputation was "not good" or "terrible."

Effective management drove public perception, evidenced by the rise of Ford Motor - the one US automaker to avoid bankruptcy and bailout - which rose to 37th among the 60 most visible US companies, up from 51st a year earlier.

The rankings were provided to Reuters a day before their official release on Monday.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's spot atop the list reflected public perception of Buffett as a chief executive who is both effective in running his company and not excessive in his pay or benefits.

"It's his humility and sense of accountability," said Robert Fronk, senior vice president at Harris. "You don't read about his excesses. Instead you read the opposite. He still has the same office. He's going to make his kids comfortable, but they're not going to be billionaires."

Johnson & Johnson, Google, 3M Co and privately held SC Johnson & Son Inc JNSON.UL rounded the list of the five companies with the best reputations.

The five companies with the worst reputations were Freddie Mac, American International Group Inc, Fannie Mae, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group.

Freddie Mac, a government-controlled entity that is the No. 2 US provider of funds for home mortgages, had the worst reputation since Enron Corp, which infamously collapsed amid an accounting scandal.

Management quality a driver

Harris, which has conducted the survey annually since 1999, polled 29,963 people online from December 29 to February 15, while the prior 2008 rankings were based on a poll conducted from September 2008 through February 2009.

Respondents evaluated the companies on six attributes: leadership, financial performance, workplace environment, social responsibility, emotional appeal and the quality of their products and services. Harris said its findings show people are more likely to invest in and do business with companies they admire.

Ad Feedback After the worst recession the United States has faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Americans placed a higher emphasis on the accountability and effectiveness of management than they had in the past, when people were more focussed on the quality and cost of a company's goods and services, Fronk said.

The best-regarded industries were technology, travel and retail, while the worst-regarded were financial services, tobacco and autos.

One of the factors holding back the reputation of the financial services industry was the lack of emotional appeal - people view bankers as focussed solely on themselves, not on serving a higher purpose.

"They have a long way to go as an industry to understand how to regain a positive footing with the general public," Fronk added.

Rising star: Stephen Casey

Stephen Casey has built his temporary structures company Accio Group into a solid business with a revenue of £2.7 million.
Where did you get the idea?

I left the army and wanted a job that kept me busy and outside in the summer and left me free to go skiing and shooting in the winter. So I decided to go into outdoor events. However, I soon realised that this approach to running a business wasn’t sustainable.

How did you get funding?

It’s been entirely self-funded. For four years I was relying on my own savings while the business got off the ground. There were points when I was tempted to take out a loan, but I didn’t want to put my house down as security.

How did you grow the business?

We had to diversify. I was just haemorrhaging money for six months every year. We were doing really well on the events side, having done events for celebrities and the royal family. But we decided to move into the education, retail and storage sectors too.

What was your marketing strategy?

When we started out it was mainly through word of mouth. Later, we decided to target the individuals at the top of organisations, through networking and ringing contacts. I was working on the basis that we’re only six phone calls away from anyone.

Where next?

We’re moving to build more permanent structures. We’ve taken the best bits from temporary buildings and used that to create designs with 45-year lifespans, which we can get up and running in ten weeks. That's particularly useful in education and retail.

Apple to show off new iPhone software Thursday

Apple will unveil updates to the software underlying its iPhone and iPad devices at a press event Thursday, the company said.

In an e-mail sent to reporters Monday, the company indicated that it would be showing off the fourth version of the iPhone operating system. The message included a large graphic with the shadow of a numeral four.

"Get a sneak peak into the future of iPhone OS," it said.

Apple has yet to disclose what will be in the next version of the iPhone operating system. But last month, CEO Steve Jobs indicated that an upcoming feature in the software would be a universal e-mail inbox, where users could see all the messages from all their accounts in one place.

The new software will also reportedly include the ability to run more than one application at a time. That's something many iPhone users have been clamoring for, but that, with a few exceptions, iPhone OS-based devices can't currently do.

This will mark the third major update to the iPhone software. The company has unveiled the two previous ones in March the past two years.

With iPhone 2.0, Apple allowed users to install applications from third-party software developers and created an App Store to showcase them. With iPhone 3.0, the company added turn-by-turn navigation capabilities and the ability for applications to send notifications to users even when the programs weren't running