Brighton, Mich.-based Cleantech Group announced today that it has raised funds and entered into a strategic relationship with Zurich, Switzerland's Credit Suisse Group and the Consensus Business Group in London.

The three companies plan to work together on investment products and services to increase investment in clean technologies around the world.

Additionally, the arrangement enables new consulting services from the Cleantech Group aimed at governments, corporations and fund managers, the three said.

Under the agreement, Credit Suisse and funds advised by Consensus acquired minority equity positions in the Cleantech Group. Financial terms of the investments were not disclosed.

"Working more closely with the global platforms of Credit Suisse and Consensus Business Group offers considerable leverage for the Cleantech Group's mandate to accelerate the cleantech investment category," said John Balbach, managing partner at the Cleantech Group.

The Cleantech Group operates cleantech forums and conferences, offers market research and indices, executive search services, and media. The Cleantech Group is the parent company of Cleantech.com.

"This transaction expands Credit Suisse's leadership in environmental finance and underscores our deep commitment to this important high-growth sector," said Michael Philipp, chairman and CEO of Credit Suisse for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Credit Suisse said its environmental finance businesses include franchises in alternative energy investment banking, cleantech private equity, and carbon trading and investment products developed for its private banking business.

Vincent Tchenguiz, chairman of Consensus, said "Consensus Business Group has had a strategic focus on the environmental sector for a number of years."

"We see our relationship with Cleantech Group as integral to our future investment strategy and our plans to expand our profile as an advisor in the cleantech sector."

Consensus has advised on more than $400 million of investments in the cleantech sector, covering early to late stage technology companies as well as large positions in environmental infrastructure projects.

The Cleantech Group said the new investment products from today's deal would include private equity vehicles and structured products. The company and its new partners also plan to offer advisory services for governments, corporations and fund managers.

"The cleantech market cycle will be better served by new financial instruments than those perfected in prior market cycles, for example high tech and biotech," said Balbach.

"These include blended instruments. Capital can be a commodity, but correctly tailored capital can significantly accelerate markets."

Balbach said one possible blended instrument is, "venture project finance, which addresses one of the valley's of death which cleantech companies may encounter along their lifecycle."

Venture capital normally doesn't go toward financing projects, which are usually funded by separate project finance companies using debt and equity.

On the advising side, the Cleantech Group has already announced two high profile clients, although not for financial services, but on how to go green.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) both announced clean technology programs at the Cleantech Forum in Toronto last week, each naming the Cleantech Advisors division of the Cleantech Group as a partner in their efforts (see Wal-Mart & Microsoft's new cleantech deals).

According to the Cleantech Group's own research, there's a booming market in cleantech.

Venture capital invested in the cleantech category over the last five years has shown a relative 253 percent increase over other venture capital categories, said the Cleantech Group.

The company said VCs have invested over $21 billion in cleantech since 2001, and an additional $25 billion could be capitalized through 2010.

The latest report from the Cleantech Group said that green startups pulled in $1.74 billion in the third quarter in North America and Europe, up 13 percent over the same period in 2006 (see VCs pour $1.74B into cleantech in Q3).

The group said momentum has been building over the last three years, with a 33 percent increase in capital allocation growth rates between 2004 and 2005 and a 125 percent increase between 2005 and 2006.