Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is joining Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Khosla Ventures as a public policy advisor for the firm’s green-tech investments, according to a press release from the firm today. Founded by Vinod Khosla in 2004, Khosla Ventures is one of the leaders in environmental tech investing – a field of entrepreneurship Blair says is paramount to turning around the energy and climate crisis facing the world today.
According to the release, Blair and his team “will leverage his advocacy for environmental issues and his global relationships to help Khosla’s broad portfolio of clean technology companies maximize their effectiveness in achieving their environmental goals.” During his time as prime minister, Blair led efforts to address the climate and energy crisis. Today he heads the Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative, which is aimed at uniting world leaders for global climate policy.
“Solving the climate crisis is more than just a political agenda item – it’s an urgent priority that requires innovation, creativity, and ambition,” said Blair. “I share a clear vision with Vinod, one of the earliest leaders in cleantech investment, that entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond will have a tremendous impact on our environmental future.”
Based on his continuing work with international climate-control policies, it is likely that Blair will offer Khosla Ventures and its portfolio of green-tech companies both policy advice and connections to government officials who support these efforts. Blair will also likely provide the firm with advice on new investments, though there was no mention whether he will provide any funding himself as an angel.
The partnership was announced before a private audience of portfolio companies and limited parters and other Khosla funders, including Bill Gates. Aside from its green-tech investments, Khosla Ventures has helped fund IT startups like Square, Hunch and Xobni.
This announcement is great news for green-tech companies, which saw a significant dip in venture funding last year. Khosla’s partnership with Blair is a large step forward in their dedication to environmental tech investments – a field in which they are clearly determined to become the hands-down leader. Overall, other VC funding figures have been lackluster so far in 2010, but Khosla’s clean tech initiatives could help these numbers rebound as the year continues.
Photos courtesy of The World Economic Forum on Flickr.
