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

You can follow this link to access the original report online.

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Phoebus Energy unveils hybrid water heating system in Jerusalem

Phoebus Energy unveiled its hybrid water heating system last week at the community center in Gilo, a neighborhood of Jerusalem, according to an article in The Jerusalem Post.

Phoebus Energy, founded in 2007 with $2 million in seed funding from Terra Venture Partners, has developed a hybrid heat pump system that integrates with existing oil-based systems to make them more efficient. Newly appointed CEO Yaron Tal told The Jerusalem Post says that Phoebus Energy's system saves between 50 and 70 percent of oil and reduces pollution by 80 to 90% compared to a traditional heat pump system.

"The Phoebus system is based on a complex algorithm that we developed which governs when to use the oil-based system and when to use the heat pump. It constantly monitors many parameters to decide which way is most efficient to generate heat," Tal said.

"The system measures such parameters as the temperature outside, the temperature of the water, and the price of the oil. Several of the parameters change a number of times throughout the day," he continued.

Phoebus Energy has already installed its system in eight locations in Israel, from kibbutzim to community centers to hotels, according to The Jerusalem Post. Phoebus Energy's solution targets medium and large water heating systems, such as those found in hospitals, hotels, factories and large apartment buildings. The company is also already in negotiations with potential clients abroad, Tal told the Post.

Heat pumps had been around for a long time as a means to heat water, Tal said. Phoebus Energy heat pumps take an ecologically safe version of freon to transfer energy to water. The freon flows at high pressure at a temperature of 5º Celsius. Air is then pushed into the freon, which heats the freon. At 12º, the freon turns from a liquid into a gas. The gas is then mixed with the water, which heats the water, Tal said. The company managed to get the pumps to heat water to 55-60º Celsius, as opposed to other models that only reached 30-40º, he said.

The use of heat pumps cut oil use tremendously, thus reducing costs and pollution, he said.

Shalom Turgeman, who runs the Gilo community center, said in a statement, "The expected savings run into the hundreds of thousands of shekels, but the real point is that we are taking a step for a greener Earth and fighting the air pollution in the Gilo neighborhood."

Until now, the community center, one of the largest in the country, burned more than 100,000 liters of oil per year to heat the swimming pool, water for the showers and bathrooms, and the gym.

Yaron Tal, previously the President & CEO of TopSpin Medical, was appointed CEO of Phoebus Energy earlier this month. Yoav Ben Yaacov, the Founder and former CEO of Phoebus Energy, is now the company's VP Marketing & Sales.

It was reported last month that Phoebus Energy recently completed a financing round of $1 million from Galilaea Fund.

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CleanIsrael Cleantech Startup Showcase

Phoebus Energy raises $1m to develop innovative heating system

Phoebus Energy, which is developing a hybrid heating unit to more efficiently produce energy for institutions such as hotels, hospitals, and factories, has raised $1 million from the Galilaea Fund, a private investment fund, according a report in Globes.

Phoebus Energy was founded in 2007 and received a first round of $2.1 million in venture funding from Terra Venture Partners. The company and its CEO, Yoav Ben-Yaacov, were featured in Israel21c last year.

Galilaea is a strategic consultancy firm with representatives in Europe and Israel, and is managed by Lior Shilat, who served in the Prime Minister's Office as a director of the division for coordination, follow-up and control during Ariel Sharon's government.

Globes reports that in recent months Phoebus Energy has installed systems at eight sites in Israel and is negotiating with several hotel chains and hospitals in Israel and abroad for the installation of its systems.

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CleanIsrael Cleantech Startup Showcase

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.

Cleantech Israel group featured in Globes

The Cleantech Israel meetup group was recently featured in "Globes", and I am re-posting the article below. Highlights and a photo from the group's first event are also available on this blog.

Cleantech Israel enables people (including entrepreneurs, investors, academic researchers and government officials) to meet and exchange ideas about the renewable energy, water, and environmental sectors.

The group's next event, on April 29, will include a presentation by Alon Tamari, Co-CEO of SolarPower Ltd., followed by time for networking. You can join the group and RSVP for the next event at our web page.

"Globes": Cleantech industry networks in Israel

About 50 representatives from various parts of Israel's cleantech industry recently met in Herzliya Pituach to launch a networking initiative. They included venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, Ronit Golovaty from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and even Jaclyn Marcus from the California Public Utilities Commission. The meet-up was organized by Jonathan Shapira, from Boston, and Gene Dolgin from Tel Aviv. The Cleantech Israel group currently has 134 members.

Jonathan Shapira is a law student from Boston who is currently serving an internship with Israel Cleantech Ventures, where Gene Dolgin is an analyst. The US law firm of Goodwin Procter LLP, which has an extensive Clean Technology Practice, sponsored the meet-up. Shapira says that he will soon be working for the firm.

Shapira and Dolgin, aware that there are similar cleantech networking groups in places like Boston and Silicon Valley, decided to organize the group to enable key players in the industry in Israel - entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and government officials - to meet and exchange ideas. Shapira notes that while Israel has many strengths when it comes to cleantech, the lack of government support, especially when compared to what is happening in other countries, may hold the industry back. He hopes that members of the Cleantech Israel group, together with other organizations such as Waterfronts - Israel Water Alliance, and the newly created Israel Energy Forum, might be able to persuade the government to implement better policies related to renewable energy, clean water, and the environment.

Shapira told "Globes", "Gene and I decided to organize the network together, and we received a strong response, especially from entrepreneurs and investors. Other parties quickly joined, including academics and a few government officials.

The participants at the Cleantech Israel meet-up included former Gemini Israel Funds partner Tali Aben; Genesis Partners principle Gil Dibner; Terra Venture Partners LP general partner Dr. Harold Weiner; and Israel Cleantech managing partner Jack Levy. Levy noted, "Although Israel entered cleantech late, great things have emerged here within only three years, on both the entrepreneurs and the funds side."

Participating entrepreneurs included low-cost regenerative fuel-cell developer Enstorage Ltd. CEO Eran Yarkoni, wastewater treatment solutions developer AqWise Ltd. VP business development Udi Leshem; Emefcy Bioenergy Systems CEO Eytan Levy, who previously co-founded AqWise; Phoebus Energy Ltd. CEO Yoav Ben-Yaacov; Ashkelon Technological Industries (ATI) cleantech director Rafi Nevo; and Noam Ilan, who is the project manager of the alternative energy park under construction at the Eilot Regional Council in the southern Negev.

Terra VP raises $15 million, makes first investments

Terra Venture Partners, a venture capital fund focused on seed and early-stage cleantech companies in Israel, has reportedly raised $15 million and made its first two investments.

The fund completed a seed-stage investment in IQWind Ltd., a company that is developing an innovative gearbox that will improve the efficiency of wind turbines. Terra has also invested in Phoebus Energy Ltd., which is developing a system to decrease water heating expenses for large facilities, such as hospitals, hotels, pools, etc. Both IQWind and Phoebus were founded in August, 2007.

Terra Venture Partners was founded in May 2006 by Harold Wiener, an immigrant from Uruguay, and Astorre Modena, an immigrant from Italy. They hope to ultimately raise $50 million and invest in up to 20 companies.