Tigo Energy raises $10m Series B from ICV, Matrix, OVP and Clal Energy

Tigo Energy, a solar start-up whose unique technology significantly increases efficiency in photovoltaic solar installations, announced today that it has closed its Series B round of funding.

The $10 million round was led by Israel Cleantech Ventures and joined by all existing investors (Matrix Partners, OVP and Clal Energy). The series B financing represented a significant premium to Tigo Energy's $6 million Series A venture round in May of 2008.

Meir Ukeles of Israel Cleantech Ventures has joined the Tigo Board of Directors following the round. In January, Tigo Energy added three cleantech industry veterans to its board of advisers.

According to Tigo Energy President Ron Hadar, "Particularly given the state of the current financial and venture markets, Tigo Energy's rapid close of this round shows great confidence by the venture community in our product, progress and people."

Sam Arditi, the CEO of Tigo Energy, who will be on hand at InterSolar in Munich to showcase the Tigo Energy(TM) Maximizer System, is also pleased to announce that "the company's pipeline is full and quickly ramping revenue."

Founded in 2007, Tigo Energy has successfully deployed 18 installations in the United States, Europe and Japan. The company claims to now be rapidly moving to volume production.

Based in Los Gatos, California, in October 2008 Tigo Energy announced the opening of an office in Kfar Saba, Israel, that will focus on the company's engineering activities. Mordechay (Modi) Avrutsky heads Tigo Energy's Israel operation and serves as Vice President of Engineering.

More information about Tigo Energy's technology and business plan is available online in this presentation by the company. Gunther Porfolio discusses the company's technology in this recent post.

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Pythagoras Solar raises $10m from Israel Cleantech, Pitango, and Evergreen

Pythagoras Solar, a solar energy company developing innovative photovoltaic technology, announced today the successful completion of a $10 million Series A financing round, led by Israel Cleantech Ventures and joined by Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners. Pythagoras Solar, the first company that was conceived and incubated within Precede Technologies, will use the funds for Israel-based R&D and global commercialization of its technology and products that have "the potential to change the economics of solar power."

"Solar energy is the ultimate answer to the global quest for renewable energy," said Gonen Fink, CEO and co-founder of Pythagoras Solar. "We are very pleased to be supported by the leading venture capital funds in Israel and with the strong traction our technology has received from the industry. We look forward to building a world-class team of scientists and engineers who are prepared to tackle the multidisciplinary challenges that the photovoltaic industry is facing as it grows into a substantial factor in the world energy market."

Fink elaborated, "Those challenges combine software models, optic and system design, semiconductor processes, materials science, and mass manufacturing techniques to build cost-effective, highly durable solar energy products."

Pythagoras Solar was founded in 2006 by Fink, previously at Check Point Software, Dr. Itay Baruchi, a winner of the the Scientific American magazine's "50 most significant scientific breakthroughs" award, and Precede Technologies. The company, which expects to disclose more details about its technologies and products by early 2009, has an R&D center in Hakfar Hayarok, Israel and a U.S. office in San Mateo, California.

Following the round, Pythagoras Solar's board will include Meir Ukeles of Israel Cleantech Ventures; Boaz Dinte, Managing Partner of Evergreen Venture Partners; Chemi Peres, Managing General Partner of Pitango Venture Capital; and Orni Petruschka, a partner at Precede Technologies.

This investment in Pythagoras Solar follows other recent venture capital investments in Israeli solar technology companies, including a $9m investment in Xjet Solar, and an $11.8m investment in SolarEdge Technologies.

Interview with Meir Ukeles of Israel Cleantech Ventures

Meir Ukeles, a general partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV), is interviewed in the latest edition of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. (Transcript)

Ukeles discusses ICV's formation and investor team, its limited partners, the growth model for its investments, exit options, Israel's cleantech cluster and regulatory environment, and Project Better Place, an electric car start-up and ICV portfolio company.

Established in 2006, Israel Cleantech Ventures invests in companies in Israel's energy, water and environmental sectors. It recently announced the creation of 'CleanStart', a joint venture with Greylock Partners' Israel Fund to provide seed stage capital and support to cleantech ideas/projects.