Khosla Ventures, the venture assistance firm that focuses on cleantech and information technology startups, has formed a strategic partnership with Tony Blair Associates.
Former British Prime Minister Tony 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. As part of the relationship, Mr. Blair accompanied Vinod Khosla on May 23 to tour the Calera green cement demonstration plant in Moss Landing, Calif.
Tony Blair Associates will offer strategic advice to Khosla Ventures’ green portfolio companies. With Blair’s support, Khosla Ventures aims to continue to foster innovations that can cost-effectively reduce carbon emissions, including solar, energy efficiency, and building materials.
“Solving the climate crisis is more than just a political agenda item – it’s an urgent priority that requires innovation, creativity, and ambition,” said Tony 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.”
Blair has long led on climate change issues, both in the U.K. and worldwide. He now leads the Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative, a strategic partnership with The Climate Group, working with world leaders to build consensus on a new comprehensive international climate policy framework.
“His goals align so well with our own mission to support disruptive startups in the cleantech space and to find technology solutions that can achieve unsubsidized market competitiveness for green technologies. We believe in attempting to achieve the ‘Chindia price point,’ the price at which even developing countries will voluntarily adopt these carbon efficient technologies,” said Khosla.
“It’s a price that is either cheaper than fossil alternatives or can achieve less than one year payback for efficiency investments, and is the key to scalable global adoption of environmentally beneficial technologies. With Tony’s advice and influence, we will create opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators to devise practical solutions that can solve today’s most pressing crisis at a global scale while creating new jobs, new businesses and new sources of sustainable growth. Many more Google, Apple and Facebook-like new companies will be created in the environmental space based on breakthrough black swan technologies,” Khosla concluded.