Vinod Khosla: a pioneer investor in the CleanTech market

Credit: James Duncan Davidson/O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Many think that resource-efficient and clean technology is the future of industry. It is too early to say how such technology is going to replace some of today’s most profitable industry. However, CleanTech’s potential is more and more highly regarded by investors. Among them, Vinod Khosla is a pioneer. Now at the head of his own venture capital business, he leads the way in the field of CleanTech investment.

Vinod Khosla graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. His passion for technology led him to the USA where he got a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and a MBA from Stanford University later on.

When he created Sun Microsystems in 1982 with some associates, Vinod Khosla had already founded a business in India and one  another in the Silicon Valley. His experience helped to make Sun Microsystems a significant player in the development of open systems and open source software. The business was to become reknowned in the computing industry.

Indian-born Vinod Khosla personifies success for business managers that have grown up in developing countries. Top-class education and remarkable business achievements allowed him to build his reputation as a world class manager and investor. After he had made Sun Microsystems famous throughout the world, Vinod Khosla focused on his investments.

Even before he joined the CleanTech sector, Vinod Khosla was a brilliant and inspired investor. When he was working at Kleiner Perkins Caufield&Byers, his name became associated with exceptional discoveries in technology as early on he made an investment in fiber optic network companies Cerent and Siara Systems. Both companies were later sold, making Vinod Khosla more than $15 billion. In the late 1990’s, after scoring substantial profits in internet technology, he became interested in the CleanTech industry.

           

He was still working for the venture capital firm Kleiner when he became familiar with the biofuel industry and made his first steps on the CleanTech market. When opening his own venture capital business, Vinod Khosla invested several million dollars in biofuel and eco-friendly technology start-ups. He experienced a few setbacks but his firm made its way. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair joined the business as a senior adviser and Khosla Venture became a frequent business partner for investors such as Bill Gates.

For the last ten years, Vinod Koshla has been actively investing in the CleanTech industry. He had a part in revealing some of the most talented businesses and most promising technologies. Throughout his career, Vinod Koshla has illustrated how profitable CleanTech is and contributed to make it a credible new industry and target for investors. He has been a source of inspiration for businesses as well as for investors. The next few decades will tell if the work he has achieved in the last 10 years has also initiated a long lasting trend on financial markets.