Feed: Cleantech Investing in Israel - AggScore: 82.8
Summary: Cleantech Investing in Israel
News and commentary on Israel's growing clean technology industry.
Pythagoras Solar announces pilot installation at Willis Tower
Pythagoras Solar, an Israel-based, venture-backed company developing transparent, energy efficient windows that also generate solar power, announced that it has been chosen by Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, the tallest building the Western Hemisphere, to collaborate on a pilot project to help deliver on the building's renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement goals.
The pilot project, deployed in November 2010 on the south facing windows of the Willis Tower's 56th floor, uses Pythagoras Solar's building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solution that has the potential to expand to a surface area allowing over two megawatts of solar power generation.
"We are excited to launch this pilot with Pythagoras Solar's leading-edge solar window solutions as a test for not only the energy savings that can be achieved, but the potential they represent to actually generate power through the sun," said John Huston, Executive Vice President of American Landmark Properties, one of the ownership partners of Willis Tower.
"We are incredibly proud to be considered to contribute our part for the 'greening' of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the iconic Willis Tower," said Gonen Fink, Co-founder and CEO Pythagoras Solar. "It is inspiring to see a team not waver in its dedication to making a true and lasting change through smart investments in the right solutions. With its combined benefits, our technology is set to provide Willis Tower with a valuable tool that will help move it toward its energy efficiency goals."
According to Pythagoras Solar, it is the first company to offer a fully integrated photovoltaic glass unit (PVGU) that addresses the need for simultaneous benefits of energy efficiency and high power density, while also offering architectural design benefits to increase real estate value and advance Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZB).
Pythagoras Solar is a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel and China. Pythagoras Solar was the first company to be incubated by Precede Technologies, and the Pythagoras Solar raised a $10 million Series A financing in 2008 led by Israel Cleantech Ventures and joined by Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners.
Related Posts:
Pythagoras Solar raises $10 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures, Pitango and Evergreen
BrightSource Energy Raises Additional $90 Million
BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, has raised an additional $90 million in its most recent equity financing, according to a U.S. securities law filing.
Keely Wachs, a spokesperson for BrightSource Energy, reports that the Company has now raised $420 million in equity financing to date.
Related Posts:
BrightSource Energy Raises $150 Million Series D Financing
BrightSource / Luz II dedicate Negev Solar Energy Development Center
BrightSource Energy expands Nevada solar thermal project to 960 MW
BrightSource Energy signs contract with Siemens for solar-powered generator
BrightSource Energy signs 1.3 GW solar thermal
deal with SCE
Arnold Goldman, Chairman of BrightSource Energy
BrightSource Energy raises $115 million in latest round of funding
BrightSource Energy signs large solar deal with PG&E
BrightSource Energy raises $150 Million Series D financing
BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, has raised an additional $150 million in its most recent equity financing. The Series D round brings BrightSource’s total equity financing to more than $300 million and positions the company for significant growth.
New investors including Alstom and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) joined existing investors in this round, led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
The additional financing will be used to support BrightSource's 2,610 megawatts in contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison to build 14 solar power plants in the US southwest by 2016. The funds will also be used by BrightSource to further its international expansion plans.
“A Series D capital raise of this magnitude reflects the market’s confidence in our world-class team and the important role of our Luz Power Tower technology in meeting the growing global demand for cost-effective and reliable solar power,” said John Woolard, Chief Executive Officer of BrightSource. “By adding new strategic investors to our current blue chip investor base, we strengthen our ability to make solar thermal energy a significant part of the world’s energy mix.”
As part of the financing, global power-generation leader Alstom has committed to invest up to $55 million. This investment in BrightSource represents Alstom’s entry into the solar market and underscores BrightSource’s leading position in this industry.
Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power President, said, “BrightSource Energy’s market-leading solar-tower thermal-power technology complements Alstom’s strong portfolio of renewable energy solutions, building on our strength in hydro, geothermal, wind, tidal power, biomass and waste-to-energy solutions. Following this investment, both companies intend to enter into an industrial relationship, which will enhance BrightSource’s leading position in this industry.”
In February 2010, BrightSource received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project – the first of its US-based power projects. Once constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US today. The project will also create more than 1,000 local jobs at the peak of construction and generate $250 million in construction wages. The power plant will be constructed by Bechtel, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah project. BrightSource expects to commence construction later this year.
“The BrightSource team continues to execute at the highest levels and set the bar for the utility-scale solar industry,” said Alan Salzman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of VantagePoint Venture Partners. “With BrightSource’s proven ability to hit commercial and technological milestones, we see no limit to the company’s potential in transforming global power markets.”
BrightSource is the parent of Jerusalem, Israel-based BrightSource Industries Israel (BSII), formerly called Luz II. BSII performs R&D, production and project engineering for its California-based parent company.
In June 2008, BrightSource launched the Negev Solar Energy Development Center, a demonstration plant producing the world’s highest temperature steam from solar, at the Rotem Industrial Park near Dimona, Israel.
Related Posts:
BrightSource / Luz II dedicate Negev Solar Energy Development Center
BrightSource Energy expands Nevada solar thermal project to 960 MW
BrightSource Energy signs contract with Siemens for solar-powered generator
BrightSource Energy signs 1.3 GW solar thermal
deal with SCE
Arnold Goldman, Chairman of BrightSource Energy
BrightSource Energy raises $115 million in latest round of funding
BrightSource Energy signs large solar deal with PG&E
Emefcy raises $5m Series A financing
Emefcy, a microbial fuel cell startup based in Caesarea, Israel, has raised $5 million at a company value of more than $10 million, post-money.
UK investment fund Pond Venture Partners led the round, joined by current Emefcy investors Israel Cleantech Ventures Funds and Plan B Ventures, according to Globes and IVC Online.
Emefcy, co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Eytan Levy and Ronen Shechter, is developing the MEGAWATTER™ technology. This technology produces low cost electricity (at $0.10/kWhr) and hydrogen in a bio-electro-chemical process from wastewater treatment by leveraging Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology.
Levy and Shechter previously founded wastewater treatment company AqWise. In February 2009, this blog detailed Emefcy's efforts to raise a $3.5-$5.0 million Series A financing. That same month, Levy presented at a public event at MIT organized by the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance. Plan B Ventures is based in Boston and its principal, Barbara Goldman, is a member of the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance.
Levy told Globes, "The capital raised will help us set up a commercial pilot. We've already established laboratory pilots on increasingly larger scales. Progress to a commercial pilot is based on the successful results of the laboratory pilots."
Emefcy's Scientific Advisory Board includes Prof. Bruce Logan of Pennsylvania State University, Prof. Derek Lovely of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and Prof. Bruce Rittmann, Director of the Biodesign Institute at the University of Arizona.
Related Posts:
Emefcy signs collaboration agreements, raising Series A funds
Israel Cleantech buys 11% of AqWise
AqWise founders start new cleantech venture
EnStorage raises $15M Series B financing led by Warburg Pincus
Israeli fuel cell start-up EnStorage Ltd. has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round.
U.S. private equity fund Warburg Pincus led the round, and was joined by all of EnStorage's current investors, including Greylock Partners, Canaan Partners, Siemens TTB, and Wellington Partners, according to a report in "Globes".
EnStorage was founded in 2007 by VP R&D Dr. Arnon Blum, Chief Scientific Officer Prof.
Emanuel Peled of Tel Aviv University, Chairman Nachman Shelef, and former CEO Eran
Yarkoni.
EnStorage is developing and commercializing energy storage
systems, based on technology developed for over by Prof. Emanuel
Peled and his team at Tel Aviv University. The technology is
licensed from Ramot, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv
University.
According to the EnStorage web site, James Levy, a Principal at Warburg Pincus, has
joined the EnStorage Board of Directors.
EnStorage raised a $2 million Series A financing in January 2008.
Eran Yarkoni was the featured speaker at the first CleanIsrael Meetup in March 2008. Congratulations to the EnStorage team for the Series B financing!
Related Posts:
EnStorage raises $2m from Greylock, Canaan and
Siemens Venture Capital
Highlights from first CleanIsrael meetup
event
GreenRoad raises $10M from Al Gore's Generation Investment Management
GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, announced today that it has raised $10 million in financing from Generation Investment Management, the investment firm co-founded in 2004 by Al Gore.
GreenRoad will use the proceeds of this financing to accelerate the deployment of its GreenRoad 360 service among existing and new customers.
GreenRoad 360, the Company's proprietary
technology-based service, provides drivers and fleet managers with
real-time, comprehensive and preventative feedback, analysis,
reporting and coaching on drivers’ abilities, maneuvers and
patterns.According to GreenRoad, driving behavior is the largest single contributor to driving safety and fuel efficiency and costs the US and Europe over $500 billion dollars per year. A typical GreenRoad customer sees up to a 50% reduction in crash costs and up to a 10% reduction in fuel consumption within the first year. As a result, GreenRoad delivers an innovative solution that saves lives, saves fleets money in top vehicle expense categories (fuel, crash, wear & tear, insurance) and provides a cost-effective way to reduce emissions.
“We are very excited to welcome Generation, whose investment philosophy and leadership in sustainability is a perfect fit with GreenRoad,” said Dan Steere, CEO of GreenRoad. “At GreenRoad, our job is to make our roads safer and greener and we look forward to working with Generation in leading the way to cleaner, safer and more cost-efficient transportation.”
GreenRoad is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices throughout the U.S. and UK and an R&D Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, which has 90 employees. The company was founded in 2003 by Chief of Safety Hod Fleishman and CTO Ofer Raz.
GreenRoad has raised $48 million to date, including the present financing round, from Generation Investment Management and existing investors DAG Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital and Balderton Capital.
Related Posts:
GreenRoad raises $15 million from DAG Ventures and existing investors
GreenRoad awarded contract for the world's largest teen driver technology-based safety program
UK bus company to deploy GreenRoad Safety Center
GreenRoad raises $17.5 million in Series C funding
AquAgro Fund acquires Kinrot water incubator
AguAgro Fund LP has acquired water technology incubator Kinrot Technology Ventures from Canada's Stern Partners Inc. in a share-swap deal, reports Globes.
Stern Partners, run by president Ronald Stern, will reportedly get a stake in AquAgro, an Israeli venture capital fund focused on innovative water and agriculture technologies, although terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor regulations governing Israel's Technological Incubators Program require that AquAgro inject at least $3 million into Kinrot over three years.
Stern Partners ran Kinrot for the last three years following the incubator's privatization. Under the leadership of CEO Assaf Barnea, Kinrot has invested in a portfolio of 11 cleantech start-ups and entered into strategic partnership agreements with Israel's Mekorot, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Milwaukee 7 Water Council.
B. Gaon Holdings Ltd. controls AquAgro through Gaon Agro Industries Ltd.. Gaon Holdings CEO and Gaon Agro chairman Shai Preminger told Globes, "Gaon Holdings is one of the players that, a decade ago, inscribed on its flag investment in the water and cleantech industries, through Gaon Agro. The acquisition of Kinrot turns AquAgro, which we own, into the leading Israeli investor in the water and cleantech technologies."
Related Posts:
Los Angeles and Israel to cooperate on water research
Kinrot incubator names Assaf Barnea as CEO
Computerized Electricity Systems raises $3.75m from AquAgro Fund
AquAgro Fund announces launch of Aqua Lab for early stage investments
Advanced Desalination Technologies raises $4m from AquAgro Fund
CellEra raises $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures and BrainsToVentures
CellEra Inc., a Caesarea, Israel-based start-up developing a platinum-free membrane-based fuel cell technology (PFM-FC), has reportedly raised $2 million from German angel investor group BrainsToVentures and existing investor Israel Cleantech Ventures.
According to a German press release from BrainsToVentures and an article in the Financial Times’ German edition, both of which were originally reported by Earth2Tech, CellEra has raised $2 million and developed its first prototype.
CEO Ziv Gottesfeld, in an interview with Earth2Tech, confirmed the news and said that the $2 million is part of a larger investment round.
Gottesfeld also says that CellEra already is working with a major manufacturer and is integrating its fuel cells into backup power systems. CellEra plans to use its new cash to turn its working prototype into its first commercial product, Gottesfeld told Earth2Tech, adding that the company aims to have products ready for the market in two years.
According to the press release from BrainsToVentures, CellEra
believes it can cut fuel-cell development and manufacturing costs
by more than 70 percent by eliminating the most expensive
material – platinum. Platinum currently costs $1500 per ounce,
approximately double the price from a year ago.
Christian Schüetz, a at BrainsToVentures, told the Financial Times’ German edition that he expects CellEra to introduce fuel cells for hybrid cars by 2015.
Gottesfeld refuses to speculate on when CellEra's technology would be ready for vehicle applications, but he said that CellEra's technology could work “very nicely and cost-effectively” with batteries to extend the range of electric vehicles in the future.
CellEra, founded in 2007 by CEO Ziv Gotttesfeld and VP R&D
Dario Dekel, raised an inital $2 million
investment from Israel Cleantech Ventures in 2008. Later that
year, Roger Saillant, a fuel cell industry veteran and former CEO
of NASDAQ-listed Plug Power, joined CellEra's board of directors.
CellEra's CTO is Dr. Shimshon
Gottesfeld, former CTO for MTI Micro
and the director of the fuel cell research program at
Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Related Posts:
Roger Saillant, fuel cell industry veteran, joins
CellEra board of directors
Global map of cleantech startups includes five
Israel-related companies
Terra Venture Partners Israel's most active VC in 2009
Terra Venture Partners, a Jerusalem-based venture capital fund focused on seed and early-stage cleantech investments, was recently named Israel's most active venture capital investor for 2009.
According to the IVC Research Center, Terra Venture Partners made six first investments in 2009, followed closely by Carmel Ventures, Giza Venture Capital, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Magma Venture Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, which each made five first investments in 2009.
Terra Venture Partners has $25 million under management and is headed up by general partners Astorre Modena and Harold Wiener. Its initial investments in 2007 were in wind energy start-up IQWind and energy efficiency start-up Phoebus Energy. Later, Terra Venture Partners invested in Biological Alarm Systems, a start-up developing airborne biological hazards.
IVC Research Center reports that in 2009 Terra Venturea Partners invested in:
- Linum Systems, a start-up founded in 2009 that is developing an advanced, energy efficient air conditioning technology. Linum Systems was founded by Yuval Berson and Amir Hirshfeld, two veterans of Israeli solar power company Di.S.P
- Lithium Force, a start-up focused on providing complete solutions for electric powered transportation fleets (buses, trucks, and taxis)
- PV Nanocell, a stealthy start-up apparently focused on the
development and production of nanomaterials for the solar
photovoltaic industry
- Silentium, which is developing innovative noise reduction products and solutions
- SmarTap, a company devloping innovative, efficient electronic water faucets
- Wi-Charge, a start-up developing technology to enable the safe, reliable and efficient wireless transmission of power. Wi-Charge was founded in 2007 by Ortal Alpert
Related Posts:
Terra Venture Partners raises $15 million, makes first investments
SunPower acquires SunRay Renewable Energy for $277 million
SunPower, Silicon Valley's biggest solar panel manufacturer, announced Thursday an agreement to buy SunRay Renewable Energy, a developer of solar power plants in Europe and Israel, for $277 million.
Although based in Malta, SunRay is managed by Israelis, including CEO Yoram Amiga and Michael Barnea, Head of Legal and M&A. SunRay established a wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary, SunRay Israel Blue & White, which is working to develop 100MW of solar photovoltaic projects.
Kobi Katz, the CEO of SunRay Israel, told The Marker the sale was a vote of confidence by SunPower in the Israeli solar market.
SunRay currently has 1,200 megawatts of generating plants in development in Italy, France, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom and Greece. SunRay is owned by its management and U.S.-based Denham Capital, which bought control of the firm for $200 million in 2007.
SunPower and SunRay originally joined forces on Montalto, the largest power plant in Italy. "Our experience working with SunPower on Montalto and several other power plants in Italy convinced us that SunRay will be joining the global solar technology, performance and quality leader for solar power plants," said Yoram Amiga, CEO of SunRay Group, in a statement.
Better Place secures $350 million series B round led by HSBC Group; electric car start-up valued at $1.25 billion
Shai Agassi and the team at Better Place have done it again: almost two years to the day after announcing its first car partnership and its first country deployment in Israel, Better Place today announced that it has signed an agreement with an HSBC-led investor consortium for new equity financing of $350 million. The deal marks one of the largest clean-tech investments in history and values Better Place at $1.25 billion.
This Series B equity financing round features participation from new investors including HSBC, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Lazard Asset Management. These investors will join existing Series A investors including Israel Corp., VantagePoint Venture Partners, Ofer Hi-Tech Holdings, Morgan Stanley Principal Investments, Maniv Energy Capital, and Israel Cleantech Ventures, among others, as shareholders of Better Place. For HSBC, which led the round with an investment of $125 million, the deal represents one of the largest financial investments of its kind by HSBC.
As part of the deal, Kevin Adeson, HSBC Head of Global Capital Financing, will join the Better Place Board of Directors, and HSBC will own approximately 10% of the company’s shares.
“Today marks the end of an extensive process with the outcome being a decision by one of the world’s largest, most conservative banks, HSBC, to take the validating step of investing in a private company intent on bringing innovation to the trillion-dollar automotive and energy industries,” said Shai Agassi, Better Place Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The strong investment commitment and global relationships that HSBC, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Lazard Asset Management bring to the table combined with the continuing confidence from our original investors enables us to scale up globally and execute against our plan.”
In welcoming Adeson to the Board, Idan Ofer, Chairman of Better Place and Israel Corp., remarked, “Kevin and the entire HSBC team will bring more than just capital to the table. We expect that HSBC will help us to scale in Europe, China and beyond, and we’re already seeing the value that they are bringing to the company and the Board.”
Stuart Gulliver, Executive Director, HSBC Holdings and Chief Executive of Global Banking and Markets, said, “We believe the switch from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles will create future growth opportunities in the auto and utility industries, and we are delighted to take the opportunity of investing in Better Place to put HSBC at the heart of these developments. Better Place is a private-sector solution to the issue of infrastructure provision for electric cars and can succeed without government subsidy and without sacrificing consumer expectations for personal mobility.”
Better Place’s new board member, Kevin Adeson of HSBC, commented: “We are confident that Better Place has the technical and commercial solutions to allow for the mass adoption of electric cars in the near term. The Better Place switchable battery solution, which addresses the range limitation of fixed battery electric cars, will offer the consumer an affordable and attractive alternative to current combustion engine and hybrid vehicles. We expect the Better Place model to be widely adopted across many countries and cities, particularly in those markets with policies strongly favoring electric vehicle adoption.”
The financing allows Better Place to expand its geographic footprint while continuing to execute against its committed R&D and deployment milestones. The company intends to expand into markets where the business model economics and investor returns are optimized, notably in Europe and Asia.
Better Place says that it continues to meet its timetable for Israel and Denmark launch plans for the end of 2011 when the first Renault switchable battery electric cars hit the road. Better Place also will continue to execute against its strategy of early deployment projects in Australia and select North American markets a few months after the Israel and Denmark launches as planned.
Additionally, the company’s R&D team is currently testing each element of the Better Place solution in real-life scenarios around the world in a multi-phase cycle, beginning with the company’s managed EV network in Denmark, which began last December, and a Tokyo electric taxi project with battery switch station, which kicks off in April this year. These and other development milestones lead up to full-scale trials in the second half of 2010 and commercial launch in 2011.
Agassi added: “Our technology and solutions, together with our strong partnership with Renault, provide us at least a two-year time advantage over all other alternative energy vehicle approaches. Our solution is the only one that can scale to decrease countries’ oil consumption and significantly reduce emissions, while providing consumers with electric cars that are more convenient and affordable than internal combustion engine cars.”
“Better Place is a huge experiment in how you sell and fuel vehicles, and these investors are becoming convinced this will make money,” Rod Lache, an analyst at Deutsche Bank told the New York Times. “It is a financial validation. Now we need to see technical validation and consumer validation.”
The transaction is subject to approval by antitrust regulators and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.
Related Posts:
Better Place unveils battery switch technology in Japan
Better Place applauds Hawaii's electric car legislation
Shai Agassi named to Time 100 list of world's most influential people
Better Place and Haifa to cooperate on electric car infrastructure
Better Place raises €103 million, names new Danish CEO
Better Place and Hawaii to partner on electric car project
Deustche Bank: Project Better Place has "the potential to eliminate the gasoline engine"
Better Place appoints Israel CEO, declares Israel as primary R&D center
Shai Agassi unveils Project Better Place electric car
Israel to adopt electric cars produced by Renault-Nissan and Project Better Place
Arad Technologies wins lucractive water metering deal in India
Arad Technologies, a Yokneam, Israel-based wireless water meter manufacturer, and Luxembourg-based meter maker Actaris Metering Systems were jointly awarded a deal to provide 150,000 water meters to the city of Mumbai, India according to Globes.
Citing the Israel Export and International Cooperation
Institute, Globes reports that the deal is part of a $128
million project to install 1.2 million water meters in Mumbai,
though contracts for the remainder of the project have not been
distributed. Arad and Actaris, however, are expected to win the
follow-on tenders, because of logistical difficulties in
coordinating different meter systems and technologies in a single
municipal network.
Arad Technologies—a subsidiary of Tel-Aviv stock exchange listed water measuring technologies manufacturer the Arad Group —specializes in Web-based automatic meter reading technology for municipal water networks, and also has expertise in electric and gas meters. According to Arad Technologies, its products help to reduce operating costs, allow for more accurate measurements, and increase the lifetime of meters for its customers.
According to a report in Reuters, Arad Technologies sold more
than $100 million in water meters in 2008 and is developing a
fly-by system using small pilotless aircraft to collect data from
water maters in real time.
Arad Technologies participated in the tender through the Export Institute and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor's Foreign Trade Administration and Israel NewTech program for promoting the water technology and renewable energy industries.
Arad Technologies president Dan Winter said, "Winning this tender is a breakthrough for us, which opens a new market that is full of opportunities. Arad is in the final stages of two other tenders in India, and in view of the heavy demand, we are considering moving some production there."
Actaris is a subsidiary of Itron (Nasdaq:ITRI), which offers products and services including metering, data collection, and software to utilities worldwide in the energy and water marketsRelated Posts:
India, Israel to collaborate on cleantech
Granite Hacarmel to invest in Indian renewable energy projects
Mekorot to develop water infrastructure in India
HelioFocus raises $10m from China's Sanhua and IC Green Energy
HelioFocus Ltd., an Israel-based solar thermal systems start-up, has raised more than $10 million from China's Zhejiang Sanhua Co. and existing investor IC Green Energy.
HelioFocus announced the investment last week at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, where HelioFocus is developing its solar thermal technology to boost electricity production of existing power plants.
"We will be able to reduce costs and move relatively quickly to manufacturing," Zik told Reuters. "Components that can be made at lower cost in China will be produced there."
Sanhua, which will hold 30 percent of HelioFocus, will invest
$9.25 million directly in the company and will acquire $1.25
million worth of shares from its founders.
IC Green Energy, the renewable energy investment arm of holding company Israel Corp, is the largest shareholder in HelioFocus with a 40 percent stake. It will invest $2.3 million in HelioFocus alongside Sanhua's investment.
The rest of HelioFocus is held by workers and management, including Sass Somekh, Co-Chairman of HelioFocus and Founder of Musea Ventures.
In 2008, HelioFocus raised a $10 million first round of financing from IC
Green Energy, and the company is also a recipient of an $800,000 BIRD Foundation grant. The current
investment from Sanhua and IC Green Energy values HelioFocus at
$45 million.
Zik said HelioFocus, whose system converts the sun's rays into hot air to produce electricity, will release its first product in 2012 and is working on a pilot project in Israel. Funds raised from Sanhua will be used by HelioFocus to continue its research.
"We believe that the thermo-solar market will grow significantly, together with the rapid global development and ongoing legislation in the clean energy market," Yom Tov Samia, Co-Chairman of HelioFocus and president and CEO of IC Green Energy, said in a statement.
Jacky Eldan, Israeli consul general in China, said the door opened by Sanhua will pave the way for more cooperation and investments of Chinese companies in Israel.HelioFocus' financing announcement is the latest in a series of successes for Israeli solar thermal companies. Siemens AG bought Israel-based Solel Solar Systems Ltd. for about $418 million in October 2009, AORA Solar raised $5 million in February 2009, and BrightSource Energy, which conducts R&D through subsidiary BrightSource Industries Israel, has announced a series of mega projects in the U.S. over the past year
Congrulations to Ory Zik and the rest of the team at HelioFocus!
Related Posts:
DOE awards grant to HelioFocus
IC Green Energy invests in HelioFocus
HelioFocus orders microturbines for concentrated solar power systems
IC Green Energy and Yom Tov Samia
Seambiotic and China Guodian utility to build $10 million commercial microalgae farm
Seambiotic, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cleantech start-up developing and producing marine microalgae for the nutraceuticals and biofuel industries using flue gas from electric power plants, has announced that it has signed a License Agreement and a Joint Venture Agreement with affiliates of China Guodian Corporation, to establish a Chinese joint venture for the commercial cultivation of microalgae.
China Guodian
is one
of China’s largest power companies with over
100 power stations. The joint venture with Seambiotic will
utilize Seambiotic’s innovative technology for the cultivation
microalgae for use in the animal and fish foodstock and
nutraceutical industries. The first commercial farm of 12
hectares is expected to cost $10 million, will be situated in
Penglai, a city in Shandong Province,
China.
The facility will utilize carbon dioxide emitted from the China Guodian's Penglai power station, and, according to Seambiotic, the facility will become operational during 2010. The joint venture agreements, with Yantai Hairong and Penglai Weiyuan, affiliates of China Guodian, contemplate additional farms to be established based upon a pre-agreed timetable.
“The joint venture with Yantai Hairong and Penglai Weiyuan is a major development for Seambiotic,” said Daniel Chinn, Seambiotic CEO. “Partnering with such significant companies validates our model of working with important power companies around the world, and we look forward to working with our Chinese partners in establishing the first farm and commercializing our product.”
Seambiotic was founded in 2003 in cooperation with
the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to grow and process marine
microalgae for the nutraceutical and biofuel industries while
acting as a carbon capture technology. Seambiotic's research
efforts are performed at a pilot plant at IEC’s power station
near Ashkelon, Israel, where various
species of marine microalgae have been successfully cultivated
using the power station's CO2 emissions released
directly from their smokestacks. The microalgae are in turn sold
into the nutraceutical market or used as feedstock for animal or
fish and biofuel.
Seambiotic says that it is currently in transition from the pilot plant stage to commercial scale algae cultivation and production.
Related
Posts:
Seambiotic and NASA to develop aviation biofuel
feedstock from microalgae
Seambiotic to build algae-based biofuel plant in Israel
DOE awards grants to HelioFocus, Tigo Energy, TransBiodiesel and Motorola Israel for U.S.-Israel energy projects
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the award of $3.3 million in grants
for four U.S.-Israel cooperative clean energy projects. The
projects were selected by the BIRD Foundation and will be funded by the DOE
and Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructures.
The four projects will leverage private sector cost-share for a
total project value of $11.6 million:
HelioFocus Ltd.,
based in Ness Ziona, Israel and Capstone Turbine
Corporation, based in Chatsworth, California have
been selected for an award of up to $800,000. HelioFocus and
Capstone Turbine will develop and commercialize a micro-turbine
to produce electric power from concentrated solar energy. This
project includes $2.1 million in private sector cost-share. IC
Green Energy invested in HelioFocus last year, and this
blog reported on HelioFocus' cooperation with Capstone Turbine back in
August 2008.
Motorola Israel Ltd., based in Tel Aviv, Israel
and SmartSynch, Inc., based in Jackson,
Mississippi have been selected for an award of up to
$900,000. Motorola Israel and SmartSynch will collaborate in the
development and commercialization of a platform to enable
implementation of a Smart Grid energy management system. This
project will integrate Home Area Network and Smart Grid network
management software applications to give utilities greater
control while allowing end-users the ability to monitor and
control consumption. This project includes $2.8 million in
private sector cost-share.
Tigo Energy,
based in Kfar Saba, Israel and U.S. Architectural Glass and
Aluminum Co., Inc., based in Alameda, California have
been selected for an award of up to $900,000. This project will
support the development and integration of a complete Building
Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system. The partnership will seek
to overcome the cost, standardization, generation performance,
visibility, and safety challenges that currently hinder large
scale adoption of BIPV. This project includes $2.3 million in
private sector cost-share. Earlier this year, Tigo Energy
announced a $10 million Series B financing from Israel
Cleantech Ventures, Matrix Partners, OVP and Clal
Energy.
TransBiodiesel
Ltd., based in Shfar-Am, Israel and The Purolite Company, based in Bala Cynwyd,
Pennsylvania have been selected for an award of up to
$700,000. This project seeks to design a biocatalyst comprised of
methanol-resistant lipase immobilized on a cost-effective resin
for the production of biodiesel at commercial scales. Lipase
biocatalysts offer significant advantages over traditional
catalysts used for biodiesel production including lifecycle
efficiency gains and consistent product quality, but are
currently high-cost and suffer from short operation life-time as
they are degraded during the biodiesel production process. This
project includes $1.2 million in private sector cost-share. This
is TransBiodiesel's second BIRD Foundation grant -- in 2008, it
was awarded a grant to partner with Rohm &
Hass on biodiesel production.
The projects are expected to begin in 2010.
The BIRD Foundation promotes cooperation between Israeli and U.S. companies in various technology areas and assists in identifying strategic partners in both countries, in order to develop and commercialize novel technologies and products.
The BIRD Foundation supports projects without receiving any rights in the participating companies or in the project itself. The financial assistance is repaid as royalties from sales. The Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project's budget, beginning with R&D and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not demand that the investment be repaid if the project fails to reach the sales stage.
The BIRD Energy program is the result of the U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act, which was enacted in December 2007 and formally launched at the Eilat-Eilot Energy Conference in February 2009.
Related Posts:
Tigo Energy raises $10 million Series B from ICV,
Matrix, OVP and Clal Energy
BIRD Foundation invests in U.S.-Israel cleantech
projects
U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act launches at Eilat Energy Conference
AquAgro invests in Transbiodiesel
IC Green Energy invests in HelioFocus
U.S is near approval for clean energy cooperation with Israel
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