At this week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we saw the typical fare. But there was something different -- a variety of upstart cleantech companies.
Two such companies made their debuts at the conference: Coskata, which develops cellulosic ethanol from waste, and EcoMotors, a maker of fuel-efficient diesel engines.
To get some perspective on things, I talked to Andre Peschong, an investment banker focused on cleantech who operates Deal Flow Diaries. According to him:
"Cleantech and Detroit muscle, never thought those would be in the same sentence together or housed under the same show. The Detroit Auto Show was almost overshadowed by all of the cleantech announcements. The catalyst for this tour de force was oil hitting $100 per barrel. Even though oil has retreated somewhat, it really has been a rally cry for VC funds to get serious about deploying capital in to cleantech, specifically automotive.
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