Silver Lake to start clean energy fund

* Soros a strategic partner in the fund

* Venture capital investor Grosser to lead fund

* Fund to operate out of Silicon Valley and China

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Silver Lake [SILAK.UL], which focuses on the technology sector, said it is teaming up with billionaire financier George Soros to start a new fund to invest in clean energy businesses.

Silver Lake, which manages $14 billion, will launch Silver Lake Kraftwerk, with offices in Silicon Valley and China, to provide growth capital to companies in energy and resource sectors.

The fund will invest in companies that "leverage technology and business model innovation to improve energy efficiency, reduce waste and emissions, harness renewable energy, and more efficiently use natural resources, among other applications."

Soros Fund Management will join Silver Lake as a strategic partner in the fund.

Silver Lake Kraftwerk will be led by Adam Grosser, who spent 10 years as a general partner at venture capital firm Foundation Capital.

Cathy Zoi, who recently resigned as the Obama administration's acting under secretary for energy and assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, will join the fund in April. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; editing by John Wallace)