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| Global Cleantech 100 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Global Cleantech 100 |
| Type | Industry ranking |
| Industry | Cleantech |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Publisher | Cleantech Group |
Global Cleantech 100 The Global Cleantech 100 is an annual list identifying influential private companies in clean technology curated by the Cleantech Group. It situates emerging firms alongside broader innovation ecosystems represented by European Investment Bank, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Masayoshi Son, and Larry Fink in discourse about sustainable investment. The list has been cited in dialogues involving World Economic Forum, United Nations Environment Programme, International Energy Agency, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Launched in 2009 by the Cleantech Group, the list surveys private firms across sectors such as energy storage, advanced materials, transportation, and industrial efficiency, intersecting with entities like Tesla, Panasonic, Siemens, Microsoft, and Alphabet Inc.. It functions as a signaling mechanism within networks that include SoftBank Group, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Green Investment Bank. The compilation interacts with platforms such as PitchBook, Crunchbase, CB Insights, S&P Global, and IFC for market intelligence.
The methodology combines expert nominations, investor nominations, and advisory panel voting, drawing comparisons with processes used by Forbes, Fortune, MIT Technology Review, Nature Portfolio, and Science (journal). Evaluation factors include commercial viability, market opportunity, IP strength, and team quality, assessed using benchmarks familiar to European Space Agency, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fraunhofer Society. The Cleantech Group convenes an advisory panel composed of representatives from Wellington Management, BlackRock, Energy Impact Partners, NEA, and Temasek Holdings to weight criteria.
Over successive editions, the list has featured companies later associated with public exits or acquisitions by firms such as Google, Apple Inc., Amazon, Shell plc, and BP plc. Past-listed companies include firms operating in battery innovation, like those compared to CATL, LG Chem, and QuantumScape, and in hydrogen or fuel-cell domains aligned with Ballard Power Systems, Plug Power, and FuelCell Energy. Mobility and electrification startups on the list have been contextualized alongside Rivian Automotive, NIO Inc., BYD Auto, Volvo Group, and Daimler AG in coverage by outlets such as Financial Times, The Economist, Reuters, Bloomberg L.P., and CNBC.
Stakeholders from International Finance Corporation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, and UBS Group have referenced the list in due diligence and deal origination. It has been invoked in policy and investment briefings involving UN Global Compact, COP26, G20, OECD, and International Monetary Fund. Academic and think-tank analyses comparing venture outcomes reference intersections with studies by Harvard Business School, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, and Tsinghua University.
The Cleantech Group organizes the compilation, collaborating with corporate partners, investors, and event hosts such as Cleantech Forum, Reuters Events, SXSW, Web Summit, and BloombergNEF. Sponsors over time have included institutional investors and corporations like Schneider Electric, ABB, ENGIE, TotalEnergies, and Vestas Wind Systems, which engage in corporate venture activity tracked by PitchBook and Crunchbase.
Critiques have emerged from analysts at The Guardian, The Independent, The New York Times, ProPublica, and The Wall Street Journal concerning potential bias toward venture-backed, investor-friendly profiles, echoing debates involving WeWork, Theranos, Solyndra, Enron, and Kodak regarding market signaling. Questions have been raised about transparency and conflicts of interest when advisory panel members maintain venture stakes, a dynamic observed in controversies surrounding SoftBank Vision Fund, Kleiner Perkins, TPG Capital, Blackstone, and KKR & Co. Inc..
The Global Cleantech 100 has influenced lists and indices managed by CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), S&P Dow Jones Indices, MSCI, FTSE Russell, and Refinitiv, and informed startup benchmarking used by accelerators like Y Combinator, Plug and Play Tech Center, Techstars, MassChallenge, and Elemental Excelerator. Its legacy persists in shaping investor attention toward companies later integrated into portfolios of Berkshire Hathaway, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Healthineers, and Iberdrola and in dialogues at forums such as Davos and COP27.
Category:Clean technology