SunRun is backed by the venture capital firms Foundation Capital and Accel Partners.

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Warren Weiss, a partner at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Foundation Capital, followed the company for nearly a year after hearing about it at an investment forum in 2004.

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Paul Holland of Foundation Capital, a venture firm, points out that many municipalities in America have promised to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels.

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The Milken foundation acted like a venture capital firm, funding high-risk projects unlikely to win government grants and wooing young researchers into the field.

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For example, the consumer industry accounts for nearly 15% of GDP but less than 5% of venture capital funding, yet according to a report by the Kaufmann Foundation, the leading authority on VC and angel investing returns, angel investments in consumer products companies have produced average returns of 3 .6x invested capital over 4.4 years.

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Over 100 have received some money from the Skolkovo Foundation, and about half of these have attracted regular venture capital, mostly from Russian firms.

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Felix Salmon has a great catch here, a look at a Kauffman Foundation report into the success or failure of their investments into Venture Capital funds in past decades.

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Randy Haykin interviewed the elder statesman of venture capital, Bill Draper, who shared his history and the joy he gets from giving money away through his foundation, The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.

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