Australian seed investor Playford Capital told investors at last week’s CleverGreen conference to focus on investment fundamentals despite the hype and excitement of the clean technology sector.

The inaugural CleverGreen Conference & Showcase, South Australia’s first cleantech conference, was held in Adelaide on February 15-16. Cleantech describes technologies that support increased productivity or profitability while also reducing resource consumption or pollution.

Playford Capital CEO Amanda Heyworth told a special investors session at the event that there were good reasons to expect the level of “cleantech” investments to grow. “This part of the market is relatively under developed,” she said.

“Just eight of the 178 companies currently in Australian venture capital portfolios are classified as cleantech - that’s less than five per cent.

“Positive environmental factors include the Government’s moves to put a price on carbon and water and the increasingly recognised need to reduce our reliance on oil. At the same time, there is both corporate and consumer demand for an efficiency payback and to do the right thing.

“However, while it is easy to be romantic about the prospects of companies in this sector, the deal needs to stack up just like any other deal - with the right mix of people, market and product.”

Ms Heyworth said that South Australia’s long standing strengths in technologies such as materials science, water and waste management, and optimisation are now being coupled with signal processing, sensor and control system capabilities out of the defence sector. 

“This convergence can lead to solutions that may improve renewable energy infrastructure and present opportunities for technology-based companies in the clean technology sector,” she said.
“We are beginning to see more IP-based companies focus on market opportunities where South Australia has a comparative advantage.”

Ms. Heyworth said the key to every successful investment was a successful exit. “Discuss exit targets and expectations right from the start, so you get everyone on the same page,” she advised.

Playford Capital is an Adelaide-based early stage investor which identifies innovative technology companies that will deliver a strong return from seed funding. As well as funding promising companies through the early stage capital gap, Playford assists with product planning, market entry and channel management. Playford also has a strong record of attracting co-investment into its portfolio companies.

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