Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Markets - Ernst & Young - United States

Our 2009 Global cleantech report shows that the world’s largest corporations are rapidly adopting cleantech products and services to gain a competitive advantage. Eighty-five percent of respondents surveyed said that their companies are accelerating the pace of cleantech adoption compared with two years ago.

The number of companies going public or registering for an IPO hit its highest level in a year, according to Ernst & Young’s latest quarterly IPO pipeline report. The pipeline swelled to 34 registrants seeking to raise US $10.9 billion, up from 28 registrants and US $7.6 billion at the end of Q2 2009.

In September 2009, we asked a group of future market leaders - participants in the global Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award - what their priorities were coming out of the global financial crisis. What lessons had they learned? Most of them are actually thriving in the downturn - see how.

According to a new Ernst & Young LLP analysis of the Russell 2000 Index’s annual reconstitution, the Index now includes smaller companies than it has in any year since 1993.

New Q2 2009 analysis from Ernst & Young found venture capital investment in cleantech reached $572 million (an increase of 73% from Q1) in 48 deals, which was a doubling in number of transactions in the quarter. Asset-based financing also saw a pickup. "The quarterly uptick reflects investor confidence in the ability of cleantech companies to capitalize on market opportunities," says Joe Muscat, Americas Director of Cleantech.

Global economic recovery depends on the proven relationship of entrepreneurship and innovation to economic growth. Leveraging Ernst & Young's multidecade engagement with the world's best entrepreneurs and high-growth companies, and the extensive community we have built around them, this paper argues there's no time like now to take advantage of entrepreneurial thinking to lead the marketplace back to health. It provides a point of view about the entrepreneurial mind set and why "You're never too big to be an entrepreneur."

From survival to growth, our seventh annual report on Venture Capital, examines the state of Venture Capital today and provides insights into such topics as strategies for seizing opportunities in the current downturn, managing working capital and concerns for technology companies. Throughout the report, leading company executives and Venture Capital investors from around the globe share their own perspectives on the impacts of the downturn and strategies for success.

In response to the downturn, Ernst & Young recently surveyed 3,100 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award country winners and finalists. Our findings show that 67% of high-growth company CEOs and entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the downturn by "pursuing new market opportunities." Expanding customer base and sharpening market differentiation are the top priority for today's leading entrepreneurs, according to our survey.