Kleiner Perkins will make huge green bets

If Kleiner-Perkins' latest fundraising sets an example for the rest of the venture capital industry, green-focused companies are about to get access to a huge pool of capital.

The storied firm said today it had raised a $500 million fund targeted at later-stage green startups that need money to fuel growth. Kleiner Perkins has brought in Ben Kortlang from Goldman Sachs to co-manage the fund along with current partner John Denniston.

It also raised its 13th fund, a $700 million war chest that will go into green companies as well as life sciences and traditional IT.

The size of the two funds is a reminder that alternative-fuels companies and other green startups need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to get to a profitable size.

Al Gore will have a say in the investments on both sides of the Atlantic as Kleiner also said it was expanding its partnership with London-based Generation Investment Management, in which Gore is a director.

To see what Kleiner looks for when making investments, watch the video of Kleiner partner Ray Lane embedded in this post.