Better Place raises €103 million, names new Danish CEO

Better Place, in conjunction with its Danish utility partner, DONG Energy, announced today it has raised approximately €103 million Euro (770 million Danish Kroner) in equity and convertible debt for the initial deployment of their electric car charging network in Denmark.

Under the terms of the agreement, DONG Energy will assist in the Better Place Denmark network rollout as well as be the preferred supplier of renewable energy to power the network.

In March 2008, Better Place named Better Place Denmark as its second operator following Israel, which recently unveiled its first installed electric charge spots. Starting in 2011 The Renault-Nissan Alliance will begin to commercialize a complete range of electric vehicles adapted to Danish customer requirements

Better Place also named Jens Moberg as Head of Better Place Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Business Development and Chief Executive Officer of Better Place Denmark. As CEO, Mr. Moberg will focus on establishing Denmark as Better Place's first operation in Europe and help expand Better Place to other European countries. He joins Better Place Denmark from Microsoft Corp., where he was responsible for developing and growing Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar enterprise business in Russia, India and China.

Today's announcement follows a series of deals signed by Better Place to construct charging and battery-swapping networks in Australia, California, Canada, Hawaii and Israel.

“With the U.N. Summit on Climate Change around the corner, Denmark has the opportunity to demonstrate to the world what the future of transportation will look like,” said Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO, Better Place. “In Jens Moberg, we’ve selected a world-class business executive to help us implement our model in Denmark, which will serve as a showcase for Europe and the rest of the world as they come to Copenhagen for COP15 in December.”

“Our goal in investing in Better Place Denmark is to help reduce CO2 emissions and increase the consumption of sustainable energy by capturing and leveraging wind power more efficiently,” said Anders Eldrup, CEO and President, DONG Energy. “Under Jens Moberg’s leadership, we look forward to making the Better Place vision a reality in Denmark for the entire world to see.”

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