When Nancy Pfund‘s DBL Partners recently closed its $400 million third fund, ImpactAlpha wrote, “Want to spot the next Tesla? Watch DBL Partners.”
In her podcast interview with ImpactAlpha, Pfund discusses new investments from Tanzania (Off Grid Electric) to San Francisco (Advanced Microgrid Solutions). Hint: Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity, is on the board of Off Grid Electric and Advanced Microgrid is the largest customer of Tesla’s new PowerPack battery systems.
“I want to give a shout out to all of the clean tech entrepreneurs,” Pfund told ImpactAlpha’s David Bank. “This field is on fire. Or, maybe that’s not a good metaphor. This field is very exciting and growing, and the quality of entrepreneurs in our deal flow compared to the very early days is just night and day. So, it’s just a great time to have dry powder.”
Listen to ImpactAlpha’s interview with Nancy Pfund in our new podcast series.
Pfund stuck with cleantech investments when many others pulled out. In the podcast, she tells the story of Solar City’s hair-raising IPO and being pals with Elon Musk (“He’s always been a master of the universe in my mind”).
“I believe that we are at the tipping point for clean energy,” Pfund says. “When quarter-after-quarter you see the majority of new generation capacity coming from renewables, when you see the growth of electric vehicles and traditional car companies coming out with their own models — this is what the early phase of a transition looks like.”
Brian Walsh of the New York financial services company Liquidnet, and Imogen Rose-Smith, senior writer at Institutional Investor, join David for a panel discussion. Is it acceptable — or possible — to get filthy rich doing impact investing?
Listen to ImpactAlpha’s interview with Nancy Pfund in our new podcast series.
