Clean tech, health tech and “bleeding edge” computing have been the investment themes of Vinod Khosla’s venture capital firm since he set it up in Silicon Valley in 2004. After his own success in building the computer hardware and chip group Sun Microsystems in the 1980s, followed by 18 years at VC firm Kleiner Perkins, he became one of the earliest backers of the first wave of US solar start-ups — suffering losses when China disrupted the economics of the market.

But he has persisted with the VC model of seeking the one in a hundred companies that can make a major technological advance and, working alongside Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy coalition, his firm channels billions into clean tech start-ups — from green hydrogen to fusion power.

However, he has recently warned of a protracted US-China “techno-economic war”, in which tech investors will play a role in deciding which country’s companies — and values — will prevail.