BrightView Systems Ltd., a solar photovoltaic startup based in Petah Tikva, Israel, announced today that it has recently finalized a
$6 million Series A round of financing.
Eyal Harel, formerly Co-President of
Orbotech, has become BrightView's Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV) financed BrightView Systems in mid 2008 and was later joined by Hasso Plattner Ventures (HPV), a Germany-based venture capital fund whose limited partners include CMEA Ventures, Shai Agassi, Arnon Katz and Hasso Plattner, the co-founder of SAP. Glen Schwaber, partner at ICV, is now a director of BrightView Systems.
"BrightView is focused on perfecting the production process of photovoltaic-based solar-cells," said Benny Shoham, BrightView's co-founder and CEO. "Our tools are designed to deliver a solution suite that uniquely addresses some key production gaps while optimized to meet the particular needs of the most advanced solar-cells manufacturers. The current investment will enable us to introduce our first solution to the market during 2009."
"Headquartered in Potsdam (Germany), Hasso Plattner Ventures is well positioned to support BrightView's access to the European market and particularly to Germany, which is by far the most developed solar photovoltaic market in the world today, both in solar deployments and in investments in advanced photovoltaic production," said Eran Davidson, President and CEO of Hasso Plattner Ventures. "We believe that BrightView is addressing an essential key segment that is still insufficiently developed in the photovoltaic industry's value chain.
"BrightView exemplifies our strategy of investing in entrepreneurial teams that leverage Israeli technology know-how to solve major bottlenecks in cleantech markets," noted Glen Schwaber, Partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures. "The company's competitive advantage stems from applying Israel's recognized leadership in the Semiconductor and Flat Panel Display industries to the growing market for solar process equipment."
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