In order to provide the right answers, the corporate venturing fund manager will need to break out of the traditional corporate venture fund structure and strengthen alliances beyond its home sector.

Wouter Jonk, managing director of SET Venture Partners, an independent firm with local utility Delta as a limited partner, has become a board member of NGenTec.

Yvette Go, investment manager at SET, said: "With MicroShade, PhotoSolar has a great product in hand."

Yvette Go, investment manager at SET, said: "O-Flexx's proprietary thermo-electric solution is absolutely unique. What makes the technology significant is that it opens up markets where electricity generation from waste heat was never feasible before."

RWE Innogy has agreed to sell up to 100 units of the wind turbine in Germany by the end of next year.

Germany-based power utility RWE Innogy's corporate venturing unit has bought 20% of Sweden-based Airec, which makes heat exchangers for gases.

The deal with Mantex comes three months after RWE Innogy founded Innogy Venture Capital as a subsidiary company to formalise its corporate venturing activities begun in 2008.

Groen was previously managing director of sales and marketing in the Netherlands at utility company Nuon.