Chris Moran

Today we're announcing a new initiative to identify and invest in early-stage, privately-held Chinese companies with promising technologies that can advance or complement the company’s core expertise, particularly in the areas of cleantech, display and semiconductor manufacturing.

I am pleased to share with you an update on Applied Ventures as we celebrate our fund's fifth anniversary. Over these past five years, we have had the privilege of investing more than $100 million dollars in 27 companies, mostly in cleantech, making us one of the most active investors in the space.

Yesterday it was announced that Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, made an investment in BT Imaging, the world’s leading supplier of luminescence-based inspection and quality control systems for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry. The investment was part of its Series A2 financing round totaling US$ 3.8 million.

As the climate change and energy policy bills meander their way through the U.S. Congress, interest in when, where and how to build a renewable energy future is still up for debate—and funding. And, a lively debate it is.

Applied Ventures recently hosted the Cleantech Special Interest Group (SIG), a cadre of cleantech investors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and Eric Wesoff of Greentech Media. The group toured Applied's facility and viewed the Sunfab PECVD tool chamber, the world’s most powerful solar glass module as well as got a peek at the AKT Gen 10 display glass – the largest in production today.

Last week we announced that Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, made a strategic investment in Tera-Barrier Films, a newly incorporated spin-off from the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE).