CleanIsrael Cleantech Startup Showcase

On December 15th, the CleanIsrael Network will host its first Cleantech Startup Showcase, featuring presentations by 5 Israeli startups from the energy, water, and green technology sectors.

The presenting companies are Agam Energy, Emefcy, High Check Control, Phoebus Energy, and SOVNA.

The event is sponsored by Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co. and organized in conjunction with IDC Herzliya's new Institute for Renewable Energy Policy and Applied Research (IDC IREP), founded by Dr. Isaac Berzin.

This the first event of its kind for the CleanIsrael Network. Founded last March by the author of this blog and Gene Dolgin, an analyst at Israel Cleantech Ventures, the group grown into a network of 650+ cleantech-related entrepreneurs, investors, academic researchers, service providers, and government officials. CleanIsrael's regular networking events host speakers from industry-leading organizations such as Better Place, Cleantech Group, Israel Cleantech Ventures, and Sindicatum Carbon Capital.

More than 150 people have already registered to attend the event in Israel. For more information, and to register, click here.

There will also be a live web cast of the event to several North American groups, including the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance, California Israel Chamber of Commerce, Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce, and the law offices of Gowlings in Toronto and Ottawa. Click here to register for the event in Boston.

Several of the participating companies should be familiar to readers of this blog and observers of Israel's cleantech industry.

Emefcy, co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Eytan Levy and Ronen Shechter, who previously founded wastewater treatment company AqWise, has already received venture funding from Israel Cleantech Ventures. Emefcy, which is developing products that produce electricity from wastewater treatment by leveraging Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology, was featured in Jerusalem Post. Greentech Media detailed Levy's efforts to raise $3.5-5.0m in a Series A funding round during the CICC Cleantech Tour of Silicon Valley last month.

Phoebus Energy, which received a first round of venture funding from Terra Venture Partners in 2007, is developing a hybrid heating unit to more efficiently produce energy for institutions such as hotels, hospitals, and factories. Phoebus, and its CEO, Yoav Ben-Yaacov, were featured in Israel21c earlier this year.

SOVNA, a startup that installs vertical micro wind turbines atop high-rise buildings, was previously called ALT-E and was featured in Ha'aretz earlier this year. Erez Ella, a noted Israeli architect whose projects include the Museum Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of Sovna's co-founders and also participated in the CICC Cleantech Tour of Silicon Valley last month.

Isaac Berzin to establish Institute for Alternative Energy Policy

Dr. Isaac Berzin, founder of Greenfuel Technologies and a member of 2008 Time 100, is profiled by Karin Kloosterman in the latest edition of Israel21c.

In the interview, Dr. Berzin discusses his plans to establish an Institute for Alternative Energy Policy in Israel. The institute will be located at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, where Berzin is now a senior fellow, and will collaborate with the U.S.-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) and National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Dr. Berzin will be the featured speaker at the next Cleantech Israel event on June 17. If you are interested in meeting Dr. Berzin and learning more about his vision for Israel's cleantech future, I encourage you to join the group and RSVP.

See also: "Looking for a few green men" (Jerusalem Post)

Related posts:

Isaac Berzin, Israel's Green Giant

Global map of cleantech startups includes five Israel-related companies

Isaac Berzin, Israel's "Green Giant"

Dr. Isaac Berzin, founder of Greenfuel Technologies, was recently profiled in Ha'aretz.

Berzin and Greenfuel have developed a revolutionary technology to produce biofuels from algae that are bred on gases emitted by power plants.

Time Magazine included Berzin in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008, and Fortune Magazine also published a flattering article about the company, which has raised tens of millions of dollars in venture capital. Just last week the company raised another $13.9 million from Access Private Equity, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Polaris Venture Partners.

Berzin, a senior faculty member at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, is now busy establishing an Israel-based international institute to formulate an alternative energy policy. With the thriving market for growing algae as a source of energy - more than 250 companies and universities are engaged in this sphere - Berzin has decided to focus on setting policy. "I want Israel to become an international center of knowledge in the realm of alternative energy. The world is looking for solutions in this sphere, and in my view Israel is in a very special position. The toolbox that is needed to create solutions of this kind is here."

Related content:

Global map of cleantech startups includes five Israel-related companies

Jennifer Fonstad -- DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures