ZURICH, Switzerland — The EE Times Market Intelligence Unit has released the 2007 edition of the EE Times Venture Capital Scoreboard. The report shows in quantitative terms the rising investments in Cleantech and photo-voltaic startups and a steady flow eastwards of VC investment in electronics.

The report provides a detailed review of venture capital investments made in electronics startups during the 2007 calendar year. The EE Times Market Intelligence Unit has compiled an extensive dataset and the analysis of that data has offered up a number of surprises as well as confirming previously suspected trends.

The report tracks more than $2.6 billion of investment made in 168 transactions over the course of the year. It analyzes the data in terms of investment rounds, business models and applications, pulling out trends in areas such as cleantech and photovoltaics, fabless semiconductor companies, and end-market investments in wireless areas such as WiMax.

Covering deals involving companies from more than 20 countries, the report compares investments by region, and drills down in detail in several specific areas including Israel and the U.K.

Not surprisingly, fabless semiconductor companies captured the lion’s share of capital, but EDA and intellectual property companies, systems developers, manufacturing companies and capital equipment startups also contributed substantially to the overall total.

A notable trend in 2007 — and one that has continued into 2008 — is the rise of so-called cleantech investment activity. The report shows how it is making a positive impact on the amount of capital available for energy-related technology ventures, as well as driving investment into semiconductor-related innovation, such as thin-film solar cell ventures and LEDs for lighting.

Another clear trend is capital’s increasing disregard for borders in its flow to the most promising ventures and value. As a result, the VC Scoreboard recorded a banner year for startups emerging from the U.K. But California is still the center of the semiconductor venture capital world and the most popular region for investment, the report shows.

"Access to this type of information is critical for companies charting their investment and development strategies," said David Blaza, vice president of TechInsights and publisher of EE Times, in a statement. "EE Times' mission is to provide decision makers in the electronics business insight into markets and opportunities with the technology and business intelligence they need to make well informed decisions. This report from our Market Intelligence Unit will prove to be an extremely valuable tool."

The EE Times VC Scoreboard 2007 is offered at an introductory price of $300 per copy, or $500 with an integrated spreadsheet providing details on all the deals included and companies receiving venture investments in 2007. There is also a section providing short sketches of the most active venture capital funds in the electronics sector.

The EE Times Venture Capital Scoreboard for 2007 and accompanying data is available now from the Market Intelligence Unit. It provides details on venture investment activity in the electronics industry by company, targeted application, geographic location, investors, dates, and more, enabling a number of views of the VC Scoreboard investment universe.