Both cities now share investment activity from Dave McClure.

Berlin-based Versus IO was Dave McClure’s first investment in a German startup. McClure invested $100,000 in December 2012 and now Versus IO has closed its first round of $2.8 million led by Earlybird Venture Capital, as well as follow in investment from McClure.

Versus IO is a comparison engine. All the information and noise on the web can make it difficult to draw conclusions from data and make intelligent purchasing decisions. Versus IO addresses this challenge using natural language processing to generate point-by-point comparisons. Users enter two things they want to compare, such as electronic products, cities, or services, and the system culls information from around the web and presents them in a list of pros and cons.

Comparing the iPhone 5 to the Samsung Galaxy S4 shows that the Galaxy has almost twice as many pros as the iPhone, including more flexible charging capabilities and a camera with more megapixels and faster max shutter speed. If you pit Mumbai against Shanghai, you see that Mumbai has a higher average temperature and cheaper Big Macs, while Shanghai has public health care and significantly more museums and sport facilities.

When Versus IO first launched, it was solely a product comparison engine. 25 million companions are now available in 18 languages and the company said traffic has increased an average of 35% a month. This financing will support Versus IO’s expansion into other modes of comparison.

The traditional auction house calls up visions of designer-clad older women, raising white paddles to bid on antique chairs as coiffed poodles sit in their lap. Auctionata is redefining this notion with its online live auctions.

Today, the company announced investors are throwing down $3 million to support global expansion, recruiting, and product development, bringing Auctionata’s total to $20.2 million.

Auctionata claims to be the first patented online producer of live auctions. Its community of 250 specialists find, curate, authenticate, and appraise valuable objects, and make it easier for millions of private sellers, collectors, and dealers to sell their objects in an auction with an international reach, instead of in the “regional and highly fragmented, old-style auction houses.” In a statement issued this morning, Auctionta said it is offered a painting, book, or antique cabinet for sale every five minutes and has processed over 21,000 requests for professional appraisal services.  

Auctions are held on the site at 6 p.m. Central time every Friday, and buyers can look at what will be sold ahead of time. Objects range from a collection of fine wines to collectors railroads to jewelry, and this Friday, it will auction off an original watercolor “Reclining Woman” by famed Austrian artist Egon Schiele, with a starting price of $1.5 million.

“Unlike traditional auction houses, where the excitement naturally falls off after each auction, the combination of online auctions and online shop generates a high experience factor for potential buyers and sellers alike,” said Alexander Zacke, the CEO of Auctionata, in the statement.

As it is wont to do, the online model opens up the opportunities for distribution and access to people on both sides of the marketplace once a level of trust, security, and authenticity is established. The company assures customers that their appraisal process is exhaustive. Objects can also be bought and sold in the online store.

Auctionata was founded in Berlin last year and has since met with interest and growth from buyers, sellers, and investors. Earlybird, Bright Capital, Kite Ventues, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, eVenture Capital Partners, and the Raffay Group all contributed. Auctionata has 100 employees and offices in Berlin and New York.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Auctionata screenshot

This is a guest post by lawyer Peter Buckland

I have heard a lot of hype about Berlin as a burgeoning startup hub, and how its cool culture and affordable rents have drawn talented, tech-savvy entrepreneurs from across Germany, the UK and Europe.

But urban cool doesn’t necessarily translate into a sustainable startup ecosystem. Infrastructure is critical. So what impressed me most during my recent trip to Berlin was just that. Everywhere I looked I saw signs that this capital city is evolving into a more mature, structured environment for start-ups.

I met with a number of organizations in Berlin that support the burgeoning startup community. During my trip, I presented at an event for a large number of founders and investors organized by a group called FoundersTable, a division of the Make a Startup Angel Fund. They are doing great work in Berlin and other parts of Europe to build a critical link between promising startups and capital funding.

Some big players like Google and Microsoft are also having a visible impact in Berlin. Both companies presented  FoundersTable event, and both have been involved in multiple acquisitions of Berlin-based startups. Their presence, including the specific programs they are making available for start-ups, provides another important resource for entrepreneurs to gain connections and momentum.

Tech incubators and accelerators in Berlin are also blossoming. Incubators have produced some of the best-known new companies in recent years, and are a key part of the established ecosystems of New York, Boston, and Silicon Valley.

Of course, capital is one of the most critical drivers of a growing, sustainable start-up tech sector. I met with a number of early-stage investors from Germany, France, and other parts of Europe during a series of meetings on my trip. Each expressed excitement about the opportunities in Berlin. Seed and angel funding appears to be readily available. Meanwhile, U.S investors are also increasingly recognizing the opportunities in Berlin, both in terms of investing locally and helping to bridge transitions to the U.S.

So what’s holding Berlin’s startup economy back? The level of institutional venture capital available in Berlin is still small. Part of this appears to be cultural — Germany’s large institutional investors tend to avoid this asset class. That said, a number of European venture capital firms have announced office openings, and professional investors are travelling to Berlin. 

The energy in Berlin’s emerging tech sector feels very much like New York’s did five years ago, before its ecosystem was fully developed. With a little more time, Berlin could find itself in a similar situation, and serving as a model for sustainable startup ecosystems throughout Europe.

Peter Buckland is co-chair of WilmerHale’s Emerging Company and Venture Capital Practice Groups. He is based in Palo Alto, California. The firm maintains offices in Berlin and Frankfurt, which includes more than 35 corporate lawyers.

photo credit: Sprengben [why not get a friend] via photopin cc

---

Big Data and Predictive/Real-time Analytics startups: Are you looking to jumpstart development & accelerate market traction? Sign up for the SAP Startup Focus program to receive technology, support, resources and community to help you develop new applications on SAP HANA, a cutting edge database platform. Get started here, and enter promo code “VB2013″ on the form.

---

Today, Point Nine Capital announced its new $53.8M fund (€40M) to support early-stage European companies. The firm’s approach is to be “the angel VC.” The partners are focusing on mentoring entrepreneurs in areas such as Software-as-a-Service, eCommerce, marketplaces, and mobile.

Most of the investments are in consumer Internet technology, although it’s also done a slew of business-to-business product and enterprise management platform deals. Portfolio companies include Delivery Hero, Couchsurfing, Shiftplanning, Vend, Westwing, and Zendesk.

Berlin is setting itself up as a European hub for startups. Along with Point Nine, Rocket Internet is a well-known startup incubator and seed fund based in the German capital that makes investments around the world. Global venture capital fund e.ventures has offices in Berlin, and last year, Index Ventures made the city a priority as a startup hub.

The thriving art scene in Berlin means that large pool of creative talent and success stories have generated excitement about the possibilities for local startups. Well-known companies like SoundCloud and Etsy are either headquartered or have offices there, and Rally.org recently launched its European platform and incubator out of Berlin.

Mayor Klaus Wowereit said, “Berlin is poor, but sexy” back in 2004. Now, it is poor, sexy, and filled with entrepreneurs.

---

Big Data and Predictive/Real-time Analytics startups: Are you looking to jumpstart development & accelerate market traction? Sign up for the SAP Startup Focus program to receive technology, support, resources and community to help you develop new applications on SAP HANA, a cutting edge database platform. Get started here, and enter promo code “VB2013″ on the form.

---

San Francisco private driver startup Uber is picking up speed in Europe, with an official launch last week in Berlin, and Milan as the next city on the list. What’s the strategy? “Lots of hustle,” as the company’s vice president of global operations Ryan Graves puts it.

Uber runs on a simple idea that’s picked up plenty of fans in the tech community: Download an app, sign up using your credit card details, summon a private driver, see who’s close and how far away they are, and pay effortlessly within the app.

The price tends to sit at 15 to 20 per cent more than the cost of a normal taxi cab. In exchange, Uber promises a superior car and reliable service.

In the U.S., the model proved enough of a hit for Uber to raise a $32 million round and, in late 2011, announce plans to expand to “two cities a month around the world.” Since then, the company has rolled out in new cities including London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, Milan and Singapore (both still in test phase), and Sydney.

Berlin may prove a tricky market: With a few exceptions, it’s more known for tote bags and graffiti than glitz and business. It’s also a stronghold for Germany-founded taxi app MyTaxi and limousine service Blacklane.

Graves, Uber’s first chief executive and the current head of global operations, spoke to us in Berlin about why the city’s a good fit, plans to bring its lower-priced taxi service to Europe (“possible”), and how the company will avoid fights with regulators like those it had in Washington DC.

This story originally appeared on Venture Village, one of VentureBeat’s editorial partners, in Germany.

Google is the latest to jump on board with new Berlin tech hub The Factory. The company has pledged €1 million ($1.27M) over three years through its “Google for Entrepreneurs” program.

The yet-to-be-completed Factory is a 12,000 square meter property development in central Berlin, which aims to bring established companies and new startups together in a unique (to Berlin) work-play environment. Confirmed tenants include Berliners SoundCloud, 6Wunderkinder, Versus IO and Toast, as well as global web non-profit Mozilla.

The funds Google has pledged will be allocated through The Factory and are earmarked for training, mentoring, events, and other programs to support startup development.

The Factory is backed by JMES Investments, an investor in several Berlin startups, in partnership with s+p Real Estate.

“Compared to London, we’ll still in kindergarten in Berlin.”

In terms of contacts, reputation, and funds, Google’s support is a significant boost in The Factory’s bid to help local startups grow to compete internationally. “Compared to London, we’ll still in kindergarten in Berlin,” JMES partner Simon Schafer said today, pointing to the tendency for Berlin Internet companies to exit at lower valuations to those in London. “We’re just at the beginning of the innovation process.”

He added that Berlin companies are also less likely to be in it for the money than some of their international peers.

For Google, the deal is more about goodwill than a direct bid to capitalize on talent in Berlin. The Factory will be enforcing a “no recruitment” policy on campus, and Google will not be directly investing in startups supported by its funds.

While Google’s pledge to The Factory is far behind its commitment to Google Campus in London, it’s a sign of growing interest in Berlin. Other recent Google initiatives for German startups include Grunder Garage in partnership with Indiegogo.

Additional reporting by Michelle Kuepper.

A version of this story appeared today on VentureVillage, VentureBeat’s Europe-based syndication partner.

Klash is a gamification platform for life, except much more fun than that sounds.

The team behind the app — a polyglot group including an Italian, a Turk, and an Austrian — met in Barcelona and moved to Berlin with zero programming experience and just the nub of an idea: to turn dares and challenges into memorable social media moments.

In Berlin they won the StartUpWeekend Berlin 2011 competition, found a CTO, and built both a web app and an iPhone app. Which co-founder Allessandro Petrucciani (no points for guessing his nationality) promptly pitched to Jason Calacanis in a mankini, probably on a dare from his Klash colleagues.

And that’s how the app works: connect to your friends, dare them to do silly things like moonwalk through all the crosswalks they pass, and follow, track, and share the results

I spoke to one co-founder Alex Napetschnig — the not-crazy one, as I found out – via Skype about the app.

And here’s Klash’s current, humorous launch video

photo credit: MSVG via photo pin cc

The campaign, announced last night at the 10,000-strong Campus Party Europe technology festival at Berlin’s former Tempelhof Airport (above), is a joint venture between the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research, Berlin Partner, the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and regional ICT association SIBB e.V.

The details in the press release are sparse — the headliner is the marketing campaign, which will take place in print and online, include appearances at international trade fairs and events, and target both professionals and investors. Industry partners will be sought and an advisory board set up.

Berlin — 36,800 tech, media and creative companies

According to last night’s press release, Berlin’s tech, media and creative industry now includes 36,841 companies with annual turnover of €26.11 billion, who together employ 181,217 people directly and about 314,000 altogether.

Companies namedropped in the release include Moped, Amen, Gidsy, Zalando, SoundCloud, Goodbeans, Moviepilot, YOC AG, Checkitmobile, and — through chief marketing officer Benedikt Lehnert’s presence on stage — 6Wunderkinder.

Next stop, given a decade, Silicon Valley

Until now, it seems most of the German public sector’s attention has gone to providing grants and opportunities for single companies at federal level — EXIST and the German Silicon Valley Accelerator are prime examples — rather than, at state and city level, helping promote the flourishing tech and startup scene in Berlin.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. Berlin is the “broke but sexy” city, after all, and newcomers might not be aware that the startup scene has only really taken off in the last several years. Even if relatively small, any public sector support to help the city’s tech scene push forward should be welcomed — next stop, given a decade, Silicon Valley…

This post originally appeared on VentureVillage, one of VentureBeat’s syndication partners.

GP Bullhound, which also has outposts in Stockholm, London, and San Francisco, wanted to get closer to what it described this week as one of the hottest start-up cities on the planet. Pure Equity Advisors wanted better access to international buyers for its clients.

Riedlbauer got his start selling modems as the teenage founder of Connect Service Riedlbauer, then eventually joined Corporate Finance Partners (CFP), possibly best-known for brokering the sale of Jamba! to VeriSign in 2004. In 2011, he brokered deals worth a combined €300 million.

We asked Riedlbauer about the high-testosterone world of tech M&A and where he sees Berlin heading in the next few years.

Do you actually sit in on deals with your clients?

Absolutely… For the major presentations and negotiations, we’re present in each of them to support our clients and negotiate hard for them.

You’ve said before the M&A firm is often positioned as the bad guy. What dynamics do you experience?

The client, or the company, has to work for a long time with the investor or the acquirer, which means the management, the founders, and often the main shareholders, they’ll be part of the group and the company…

So they should keep a very good relationship to all of the potential acquirers – not negotiate too hard and not use all the negotiation tactics. The buyer could get annoyed or angry and that would harm the relationship in future. That’s why the M&A advisor is important, to be the negotiator and put full force behind it. That’s an accepted role.

Do you get paid a percentage of the deal?

The majority of the fee comes in with the success fee, so we definitely fight for our clients to get a success. The percentage of the success fee depends on the size of the transaction. In Germany, typically fees [are] between two and five per cent of the transaction.

You could use a poker metaphor here. Do you watch for body language?

Absolutely. We use a lot of negotiation tactics to get the best deal for our clients. Some of them are secret. … But, for example, we definitely try to create competition among buyers, try to increase the valuation and terms by putting more than one buyer into competition.

In the biggest deal this year – Facebook and Instagram — there were reports Instagram did the same with Facebook and Twitter, playing them against each other. What are your thoughts on that deal?

It’s astonishing how high the valuation got. It is definitely an example of how, if you have a very interested buyer, create competition, and you’re fully financed, you can drive the valuation to very high levels.

Instagram chief executive Kevin Systrom knows how to strike a $1 billion bargain.

Your first company, before you got into this line of work, wasn’t it selling computer modems?

Yes, it was the leading modem and network equipment distributor at that time. [I started it] out of high school, at the age of 16, 17. … It’s astonishing how many former clients of the modem business are now entrepreneurs in the online field.

How do you think the Berlin and German scene has changed for founders over the last five years?

Berlin is definitely developing, it’s a very vibrant Internet scene now. We definitely have companies now that are of decent size, even category leaders in Europe, that were set up in Berlin, run by Berlin entrepreneurs. The international investor community is definitely paying attention. They see Berlin as the hotspot in Europe now for Internet investors and internet companies. …

So I think more funding will be available in Berlin. I think we’ll see a lot of good developments in the next 24 months.

What are some of those companies you think are becoming category leaders?

Some examples? Rocket Internet. Zalando is definitely the European leader in online shoes and probably soon fashion. Team Europe, for example, their portfolio companies – like Delivery Hero – this is really becoming a leading player.

Zanox, for example, which has been in business for a long time, is the leading affiliate marketing company. Or Wooga – Wooga is definitely, I think, the number one social gaming company in Europe.

Any strong challenges for founders in the next 24 months?

I think the competition will increase. So many companies are becoming successful, so you either have competition for clients and users, or for talent.

To change topic – on the GP Bullhound team page (above), there are only a few women. Why do you think that is?

Maybe women don’t enjoy it so much, or appreciate the job so much? It’s a lot about creating vast documentation, running financial models, doing business planning, negotiating very hard, fighting for the client. You find a lot of alpha males in the industry, unfortunately not many women. …On a partner/managing director level, you can find in more traditional investment banks e.g. at Goetz Partners, a female managing director – Dr Henrietta Schmidt-Wilke, and at B. Metzler, Lucie Gabor. I don’t know them in person.

Any predictions or trends you’d like to make for the rest of the year?

Mobile is big. I wonder what will happen in that industry over the next 12 months. It’s such a fast-growing sector, smartphone penetration rate going up, people getting used to doing more on their phones, more m-commerce going up, also mobile games. Definitely a hot segment.

This article originally appeared on VentureVillage, one of VentureBeat’s syndication partners.

“I think given the amount of money available, the shortage in Silicon Valley is in technical talent,” says Guericke, “I have no doubt that some European startups with strong talent and the right startup know-how will be able to out-execute Silicon Valley companies.” One of Guericke’s new tasks at EarlyBird will be to help European companies break into the U.S. market.

Guericke, who is German but studied engineering at Stanford and is based in Palo Alto, wants to support other European founders who could make a global impact. “My goal is to help portfolio companies to become a success on a global scale,” he explains.”I will probably end up working most closely with one or two founders who decide their best opportunities for global impact come from leading their business from Silicon Valley, while keeping most of the staff in Germany, where it is easier to attract and retain technical talent.”

I asked Guericke how European startups compare to their Silicon Valley counterparts. “European founders tend to think more about revenue early on. That can be an asset, but also somewhat limiting. However, given the greater impact you can have these days with modest or no funding, I think European entrepreneurs can break free of these constraints, and smart money will find them.”

Berlin has long been a startup hotspot and pulls in founders from all over Europe drawn by the cheap living costs, vibrant culture, and expanding startup scene. The founders of audiophile social network SoundCloud, for example, which recently raised $50 million, are Swedish. Ashton Kutcher’s latest Berlin investment Gidsy was started by a couple of brothers from Amsterdam. Kutcher, at least, makes following the smart money to Berlin look like fun.

Earlybird Venture Capital, a Berlin-based VC firm, has just raised $100 million for its fourth fund. That’s half the amount the firm hopes to raise, and it brings all Earlybird fundraising to date to $700 million.

The firm is focusing on “disruptive global consumer and enterprise internet and technology businesses originating from Europe, with an emphasis on German-speaking countries,” the firm revealed in a statement emailed to VentureBeat last night.

“The new Earlybird fund builds on Earlybird’s top tier performance in adverse market cycles over the last 14 years,” said Earlybird managing partner Hendrik Brandis in the statement. “We are proud that we have been able to attract a high quality group of existing and new investors from all over the world.”

“We are deeply committed to founder success and in helping entrepreneurs build tomorrow’s category leaders,” said Earlybird managing partner Christian Nagel in today’s release. “In addition to maintaining our continental investment focus, we plan to significantly add to our seven existing portfolio investments in Berlin, which has become a nourishing ground for global tech companies.”

Berlin is, in fact, becoming something of a tech hotspot. Soundcloud, which recently raised a hefty $50 million, calls Berlin home. And Ashton Kutcher has been pumping some money into multiple Berlin-based tech companies.

Already, Earlybird’s portfolio includes general tech and health-focused technology companies, among them, Carpooling.com and SocialBakers, a DEMO company we’ve covered repeatedly in the past.

Earlybird was founded in 1997 and has seen 20 of its portfolio companies successfully exit to date.

Gidsy, a new company from Germany, could be a way for you to make a few bucks from your more unusual talents.

Gidsy is a “marketplace for authentic experiences,” and it just landed a $1.2 million investment from a combination of Sunstone Capital, Index Ventures, Werner Vogels (CTO of Amazon), and the actor Ashton Kutcher.

Are you a dumpling expert, urban survivalist or DIY manufacturer? If so,  Gidsy may be for you.

Gidsy’s founders were running a design studio in Berlin when they came up with the idea. “We were looking for someone to go mushroom picking in Berlin because we wanted to make a mushroom risotto and we couldn’t find anyone who could help us with that,” says co-founder Edial Dekker. “That’s when we came up with the idea of Gidsy. How great would it be if anyone could organize a robotics workshop, city walk or cooking class?”

Gidsy places great emphasis on naming the individual organizing the experience, although these organizers may sometimes be running small businesses. “Individuals run the Gidsy marketplace, so Gidsy activities end up being very much about the hosts’ personalities and quirks,” Dekker says. “The experiences are better because they’re expressions of an individual’s personality and passion. Instead of attending a yoga class at a gym, for example, you’ll find an expert on Gidsy offering candle-lit yoga classes on a rooftop.”

Gidsy launched in New York, Berlin and Amsterdam in November and will expand to London and San Francisco in the next two weeks. ”There is a lot of demand from other cities but every new city requires a lot of resources,” said Sunstone Capital Partner Nikolaj Nyholm. The new funding will be spent on rolling the service out globally.

It’s free to create an experience listing. Gidsy takes care of money transaction fees, customer support, cancellations, refunds and marketing in return for a 10 percent service charge. If a cancellation occurs more than one week before an experience, organizers keep 50 percent of the charge; if it’s less than two days, then the organizer is paid in full. To protect users, organizers do not receive payments (via Paypal) until at least 24 hours after the experience. The minimum charge for an experience is $5.

Gidsy is not alone in this space. 500 startups investment Vayable already operates in Berlin, New York and several other cities. It charges a 15 percent service fee while another rival Sidetour takes 20 percent. Gidsy’s founders claim that their service offers superior tools for organizers and social utilities for users. “We are very much focused on group bookings and connecting people,” explains Dekker. “If you have booked the same activity, there’s a high chance these people have something in common. We try to spark that conversation.”

The Dekker brothers (Edial’s brother Floris is also a co-founder) are imports to startup hotspot Berlin, hailing originally from Amsterdam. “It’s been said before, but the city of Berlin feels very much like a startup,” Dekker told me. “It’s changing all the time, it’s chaotic, exciting and disruptive. Add a bunch of amazing startups such as Soundcloud, Amen, Readmill and 6wunderkinder to that and you have the most exciting startup city in Europe.”

Gidsy was founded in 2011, is based in Berlin and has 6 employees.

Gidsy isn’t the first of Kutcher’s Berlin investments. He is also an investor in Soundcloud, which recently received $50 million from Kleiner Perkins and Amen. In fact, the actor has proved to be a surprising savvy tech investor although he has been criticized for promoting his own investments on his sitcom “Two and a half men” and as guest editor of Details magazine. His previous punts include AirBnB, Foursquare, Path and Flipboard. “We were specifically looking for someone with a non-technical background, but strong product understanding, and Kutcher certainly qualifies here, ” said Sunstone Capital partner Nikolaj Nyholm. Kutcher has also been spotted out on the town in Berlin, so presumably he likes the place.

The round, which was led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, may have been as large as $50 million, TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher reports. A SoundCloud rep confirmed all the details except the amount in an email exchange with VentureBeat this afternoon.

Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker will join the SoundCloud board. GGV Capital also participated in the round, which the startup hopes to use to aid in more rapid expansion.

SoundCloud’s service was first focused toward professional musicians who needed better options for sharing music online. Currently, SoundCloud is used to distribute podcasts, audiobooks and more. SoundCloud is free for most users and offers paid plans for more hardcore customers.

“SoundCloud has seen exponential growth this year in terms of users and greatly evolved our product offerings,” said SoundCloud founder and CEO Alexander Ljung in a blog post today.

“With Kleiner Perkins’ impeccable track record for recognizing and investing in companies with a long-term view, and their understanding and support for the potential of sound, we couldn’t be more excited about working together.”

SoundCloud was founded in late 2008 and has taken two previous rounds of funding totaling roughy $16 million. Previous funding came from Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures and Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.

Over the summer of 2011, SoundCloud reported it had reached the significant milestone of five million users, four million of whom joined the service within the past 12 months.

SoundCloud is headquartered in Berlin and opened a San Francisco office mid-2011.

U.S. solar and solar jobs are growing

The U.S. solar market is expected to grow at least 114 percent this year over last year’s installed solar capacity. A recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM research gives a baseline forecast that projects 944 megawatts of solar electric capacity (composed of 866 megawatts of photovoltaic solar and 79 megawatts of concentrated solar) will be installed in the U.S. this year. The report’s most aggressive estimate would see 1.13 gigawatts of installed capacity, a 156 percent increase.

“First half solar installations grew beyond expectations as a result of declining prices, continued government support and improving financial conditions,” said Shayle Kann, managing director of solar at GTM Research.

So it makes sense that domestic solar jobs are growing, too. A new report — a solar jobs census from the Solar Foundation expects solar jobs to grow 26 percent in the next year, adding 24,000 net new jobs by August 2011. There are currently 93,000 solar jobs in the country.

The SEIA/GTM report also found that California is the leader in installed solar capacity with 120 megawatts installed in the first six months of the year, followed by New Jersey, Arizona and Florida. In total, 341 megawatts were installed in the first half of the year. The report projects a stronger second half for 2010 because of one large concentrated solar power project, a number of large photovoltaic projects and continued strength in the residential and non-residential markets.

Venture capital and deals for Q3

Venture capital funding for solar has been on a down trend for the third quarter of 2010, a recent report by Mercom Capital found. This mirrors an overall decrease in cleantech investment dollars.

Total VC funding for solar was $169 million for 11 transactions, down from $922 million for 18 transactions for the second quarter. There was $20.7 billion in 12 disclosed funding deals, mostly loans and credit given to Chinese manufacturers by Chinese banks. Beneficiaries of that billion-dollar financing include LDK Solar, JA Solar, Yingli and Solarfun.

Also notable: Solaria raised $65 million and SolarCity raised $21.5 million. Solar M&A activity saw a surge this quarter, thanks largely to Sharp’s acquisition of Recurrent Energy for $305 million.

Public supports solar development

Most Americans — 94 percent — support the development and use of solar energy, a survey by Schott Solar found. And 80 percent of those surveyed supported the reallocation of federal subsidies from fossil fuel to renewable energy industries. The support spanned party affiliations, with 92 percent of Republicans and 98 percent of Democrats supporting solar. Climate legislation that would support solar, however, has had its share of struggles.

“According to this poll, solar energy is more popular than puppy dogs or ice cream,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the SEIA.

Schott’s report cites a June U.S. Solar Energy Market World Data report, the United States still has the greatest potential to increase its position in the solar market. The report sees photovoltaic installations in the U.S. rising to 7,600 megawatts in 2014.

Germany still dominates solar, even though it’s not that sunny

ISuppli forecasts that worldwide solar installations will reach 20.2 gigawatts next year, up from 14.2 gigawatts at the end of 2010 — but almost half of that will be fueled by Germany, which will account for 9.5 gigawatts.

Germany offers some generous incentives for solar companies — in Berlin, companies can get up to 50 percent of their investment subsidized — which explains its dominance in installations. U.S. companies like First Solar and Nanosolar have both set up facilities in Germany to serve the demand in the area.

In fact, the subsidies have made such a difference in growing the solar market there, One Block Off the Grid has illustrated a comparison (pictured) — noting that the U.S. gets much more sunlight than Germany, but has far less solar energy — chalking up that difference to subsidies.

However, there has been some industry worry about cutbacks. In August, the country made a 16 percent cut in its feed-in tariff. Still, the German solar market forecast still looks … well, bright.

Are you a green executive or entrepreneur? If so, sign up now for GreenBeat 2010 — the year’s seminal conference on the smart grid — November 3-4 at Stanford University. World leaders in smart grid initiatives will debate how the new “Super Grid” is creating huge opportunities in cars, energy storage, and renewables. GreenBeat 2010 is hosted by VentureBeat and SSE Labs of Stanford University. Go here for full conference details and to apply for the 2010 Innovation Competition. Register by October 22nd and save 30%.