Seambiotic and China Guodian utility to build $10 million commercial microalgae farm

Seambiotic, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cleantech start-up developing and producing marine microalgae for the nutraceuticals and biofuel industries using flue gas from electric power plants, has announced that it has signed a License Agreement and a Joint Venture Agreement with affiliates of China Guodian Corporation, to establish a Chinese joint venture for the commercial cultivation of microalgae.

China Guodian is one of China’s largest power companies with over 100 power stations. The joint venture with Seambiotic will utilize Seambiotic’s innovative technology for the cultivation microalgae for use in the animal and fish foodstock and nutraceutical industries. The first commercial farm of 12 hectares is expected to cost $10 million, will be situated in Penglai, a city in Shandong Province, China.

The facility will utilize carbon dioxide emitted from the China Guodian's Penglai power station, and, according to Seambiotic, the facility will become operational during 2010. The joint venture agreements, with Yantai Hairong and Penglai Weiyuan, affiliates of China Guodian, contemplate additional farms to be established based upon a pre-agreed timetable.

“The joint venture with Yantai Hairong and Penglai Weiyuan is a major development for Seambiotic,” said Daniel Chinn, Seambiotic CEO. “Partnering with such significant companies validates our model of working with important power companies around the world, and we look forward to working with our Chinese partners in establishing the first farm and commercializing our product.”

Seambiotic was founded in 2003 in cooperation with the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to grow and process marine microalgae for the nutraceutical and biofuel industries while acting as a carbon capture technology. Seambiotic's research efforts are performed at a pilot plant at IEC’s power station near Ashkelon, Israel, where various species of marine microalgae have been successfully cultivated using the power station's CO2 emissions released directly from their smokestacks. The microalgae are in turn sold into the nutraceutical market or used as feedstock for animal or fish and biofuel.

Seambiotic says that it is currently in transition from the pilot plant stage to commercial scale algae cultivation and production.

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Kaiima raises $8mm in Series A financing from DFJ Tamir Fishman and Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Kaiima, a agro-biotech company based in Kfar Tavor, Israel, that develops and uses proprietary non-transgenic technologies to boost inherent crop productivity for sustainable development, closed in July on an $8mm Series A financing round co-led by DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) along with alternative energy fund Musea Ventures.

According to a press release, the company is using the new financing to establish a world-wide production, marketing and commercialization network to meet growing demand for its products and to expand its development pipeline to additional high-impact strategic crops.

Founded in 2006, Kaiima (formerly – Biofuel International) is led by a team of experts in the fields of advanced plant breeding and agro-biotechnology, agrotechnology, and energy. The company is using a proprietary non-transgenic technology platform that increases the yield potential in important crops such as wheat, rapeseed, and castor. The successful application of this technology can help mitigate the threatened shortage in basic food and energy.

Green Prophet's Karin Kloosterman interviewed a product manager at Kaiima who explained the company's technology and business plan.

At the time of Kaiima's Series A financing, Dr. Benny Zeevi, Managing General Partner at Tamir Fishman Ventures and a Board Member at Kaiima stated: “Kaiima represents for us the winning combination that we seek in Israeli high tech companies: a top tier group of founders, and a unique breakthrough technology. The company’s products are aimed at one of the most urgent major global needs and it has the potential to become a market leader.

Jennifer Fonstad, Managing Director at DFJ added that “Kaiima’s platform promises to deliver important solutions for the alternative energy market worldwide. We are excited to work with the team, the Board, and our partners at DFJ Tamir Fishman in building on this opportunity."

Dr. Doron Gal, Kaiima CEO and co-founder of Kaiima said: "We share a mutual vision with DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and a mutual excitement at the opportunity to provide solutions to some key challenges faced by contemporary society. We are proud to team with these two leading venture capital groups, and we believe that they will provide both the local support and the global leverage needed by Kaiima to fully realize its potential."

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Qteros partners with Applied CleanTech on wastewater to ethanol process

Qteros and Applied CleanTech announced details today of a partnership to develop a process for turning municipal wastewater into ethanol for vehicle fuel and other uses.

Qteros, a venture-backed biofuel company based in Massachusetts, has entered into a joint development project with Applied CleanTech (ACT), a commodities recycling company based in Israel, to use ACT’s Recyllose™-based feedstock, produced from municipal wastewater solids, for efficient and low-cost ethanol production. ACT’s Sewage Recycling System (SRS), an innovative solution for recycling wastewater solids, produces alternative energy sources for the production of electricity or ethanol, while reducing sludge formation and lowering wastewater treatment plant costs and increasing plant capacity.

The companies said they are the first to demonstrate commercial success in creating ethanol from the cellulose in municipal and agricultural liquid waste, and to offer a process that all municipalities can use to help reduce expenses.

QTeros' and ACT's research has been supported in part by a grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. The BIRD Foundation funds joint efforts between Israel and the United States, and their financial support resulted in the collaboration between Qteros and ACT.

QTeros raised raised $25 million in a Series B financing in October 2008. Investors in the company include BP, Venrock, Battery Ventures, Valero, and Soros Fund Management.

“Our customer is every municipality that has a wastewater treatment plant,” said Jeff Hausthor, Qteros co-founder and senior project manager. “It will provide a value-added product for municipal wastewater plants, thereby making treatment plants much less expensive to run and helping local governments throughout the world with their constrained budgets.”

Israel Biran, ACT’s CEO, added, “It also helps answer the question of what municipalities can do with their sewage sludge, a major challenge now facing every wastewater treatment plant operator.”

ACT has spent six years developing its integrated sewage recycling solution. According to ACT, its Recyllose™-based feedstock offers high cellulose content and low moisture, facilitating more efficient ethanol production. The SRS is already in commercial use, with facilities in Israel and the United States currently making Recyllose™-based products from sewage sludge and other cellulose-rich waste while reducing sludge output and wastewater treatment plant costs.

By using ACT’s proprietary feedstock, Hausthor said Qteros and ACT’s researchers have found that an ethanol production plant can produce 120–135 gallons of ethanol per ton of Recyllose™.

Since Recyllose™ is low in lignin (a major component of plant cell walls that is difficult to degrade), and lignin can be inhibitory to efficient conversion to ethanol, Hausthor said the material improves cellulosic plant operational efficiency 20 percent over higher lignin content feedstocks.

Qteros’ CEO William Frey said that with previous technologies, a cellulosic ethanol plant would have to produce roughly 20-30 million gallons per year (MGY) in order to be profitable. With the proposed Qteros-ACT process, Frey said, production with these economics could be viable at a smaller scale.

ACT President Dr. Refael Aharon said that a wastewater plant that handles 150 million gallons a day (serving a population of about 2 million people) can be sufficient to supply a smaller-scale ethanol plant with cellulose.

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Seambiotic and NASA to develop aviation biofuel feedstock from microalgae

Seambiotic, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based leader in the development and production of marine microalgae for the nutraceutical and biofuel industries, announced today that its US subsidiary, Seambiotic USA, has entered into an agreement with NASA Glenn Research Center to develop an on-going collaborative R&D program for optimization of open-pond microalgae growth processes.

"Under a Space Act Agreement, NASA is partnering with Seambiotic USA to model growth processes for microalgae for use as aviation biofuel feedstock," said Prof. Ami Ben-Amotz, Chief Scientific Adviser to Seambiotic. "The goal of the Agreement is to make use of NASA's expertise in large scale computational modeling and combine it with Seambiotic's biological process modeling to make advances in biomass process cost reduction."

Under the Agreement, NASA Glenn and Seambiotic USA will work together to improve production processes and to study and qualify algae oil from alternative species and production processes as candidate aviation fuel at NASA's test facilities.

The NASA John H. Glenn Research Center is one of NASA's 10 field centers, empowered with the resources for developing cutting-edge technologies and advancing scientific research that address NASA's mission to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. Working in partnership with government, industry and academia, the center serves to maintain the US economy's global leadership while benefiting the lives of people around the world.

Seambiotic Ltd. was founded in 2003 to grow and process marine microalgae for the nutraceutical and biofuel industries. Seambiotic's research efforts include a pilot study at an Israeli Electric Corporation power station near the city Ashkelon, Israel, where various species of marine microalgae have been successfully cultivated using the power station's CO2 emissions released directly from their smokestacks; the microalgae are in turn used as feedstock for biofuel.

Seambiotic is currently in transition from the pilot plant stage to large scale industrial algae cultivation and production. In June 2008, Seambiotic announced plans to partner with Seattle-based Inventure Chemical on the construction of a algae-based biofuel plant in Israel.

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HCL CleanTech raises $5.5m from Khosla Ventures and Burrill & Company

HCL CleanTech Ltd., a biofuels start-up based in Tel Aviv, announced today a $5.5 million Series A financing led by Khosla Ventures, Burrill & Company, and angel investor Zohar Gilon.

HCL CleanTech has developed a proprietary technology to make an old, industrially proven German process converting lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars economically attractive. According to the company, it is these fermentable sugars which are considered the gateway to advanced biofuels (biobutanols, biodiesel, jet fuel etc) and biochemicals (bioplastics etc).

"Accessing cheap sugar locked in biomass is one of the greatest challenges now faced by those pursuing renewable fuels and chemicals. HCL CleanTech's technology represents a step change in accessing these sugars, and drops into the pretreatment step of any fermentation-based process or chemical reforming technique which starts with oligosaccharides," said Burrill & Company Director, Greg Young. "We are eager to see this proven at scale, at which point it becomes immediately relevant to adjacent industries aiming to use biomass as a feedstock."

HCL CleanTech was founded in 2007 by Prof. Avram Baniel, Prof. Ari Eyal and Eran Baniel.

The Series A funds will be used for R&D in Israel and for construction of a pilot plant in the United States schedule to be completed in 2010.

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U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act launches at Eilat Energy Conference

The Unites States – Israel Energy Cooperation Act, an international collaboration aimed at developing renewable energy technologies to reduce the world's oil dependence, officially launched during the recent Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference.

The Cooperation Act, which will fund eligible joint ventures between U.S. and Israeli businesses, has already allocated $2 million for 2009 ($1 million from each country), with a significant increase expected in future years. The grant program is targeted at biofuel, solar thermal, and electric vehicle technologies.

"Israel is well-known in the world as a technology innovator. The concentration of scientific innovation in the country is impressive," said Jonathan Shrier, Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy. "This cooperation between the United States and Israel is unique in that we have a partner who brings a lot to the table."

Two projects, run by Seambiotic and Better Place, have already received approval.

Seambiotic is developing technology to utilize flue gas from coal burning power stations for algae cultivation. The company aims to grow and process marine microalgae using an ecologically-based environmental system to reduce air pollution and global warming.

Better Place is a venture-backed company aiming to reduce global dependency on oil through the creation of nationwide electric vehicle networks.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructures have agreed that a researcher exchange and conference circuit are two important elements of their collaboration. Two conferences in the U.S. and two in Israel will take place annually. The annual conference in Sde Boker, Israel, will focus on the technological advancements in the Renewable Energy industry while the annual Eilat-Eilot conference will serve as a platform for industry-ready technologies to exhibit and market their offerings. In addition, researchers from Israel will spend significant time working in the U.S. market, while researchers from the U.S. will do the same in Israel.

Other announcements made at the Eilat Energy Conference include the launch of the Timna Renewable Energy Park, the centerpiece of the Eilat-Eilot region's efforts to turn Southern Israel into the "Silicon Valley" of renewable energy, and the AORA solar thermal plant in Kibbutz Samar, the world's first commercial hybrid solar gas-turbine power plant.

"The developments presented at the Eilat-Eilot Conference demonstrate the region's leadership in the renewable energy industry," Said Shlomo Wald, Chief Scientist, Ministry of National Infrastructures. "We are taking action to find sustainable solutions to Israel’s and the world's energy crisis, and we hope others see Israel as a major contributor."

For perspectives on the Eilat Energy Conference, check out these blog posts by Gil Dibner, Principal at Genesis Partners, and Rabbi Julian Sinclair of the Jewish Climate Initiative.

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Launching the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance

I moved from Tel Aviv to Boston last month to begin working as an associate in the Business Law Department of Goodwin Procter LLP, a law firm with a substantial Clean Tech Practice.

Boston, like Israel, is emerging as a leading hub for cleantech research, development, and entrepreneurship. The Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance will be working to connect cleantech investors, entrepreneurs, academic researchers and government officials in both places, and the group is helping organize a number of upcoming events.

Israel Cleantech Investor Conference

On October 28, 16 Israeli cleantech venture capital funds and startups traveled to New York and Boston to meet with private equity, venture capital, and angel investors.

Participating startups included Aquapure Technologies Ltd., Aquatal Ltd., Cequesta Water Ltd., CheckLight Ltd., Coriolis Wind Ltd., CQM Technologies Ltd., En Gibton Ltd., Engineuity Ltd., EPC Wastewater Solution Ltd., Leviathan Energy Ltd., and RealiteQ Ltd.

The Israeli cleantech funds were: AquAgro Fund LP and its parent Gaon Agro Industries Ltd., BDB Technologies & Hi-Tech Investments Ltd., Israel Cleantech Ventures, MIYA, Precede Technologies Ltd., and Whitewater Technology Group.

In Boston, each participant made a 10-minute presentation in the morning and had an opportunity to meet one-on-one with investors like North Bridge Venture Partners and Atlas Venture in the afternoon. A formal reception in the evening included a presentation by Booky Oren, CEO of MIYA and Chairman of WATEC 2009, and a keynote address by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

You can read press coverage of the events in the Jerusalem Post and Globes and view photos online.

Environmental Symposia Featuring Experts from Ben Gurion University

On November 12, three professors from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev will be in Boston to give presentations on their respective cleantech-related fields of expertise. Prof. David Faiman, who is also CTO of ZenithSolar, will speak about solar energy; Prof. Isaac Meir will discuss "green" architecture; and Prof. Zeev Wiesman speak about biofuels.

You can find more information about the lunchtime and evening symposiums and RSVP at the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance meetup page.

Biofuels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - A Presentation by Dr. Isaac Berzin

Dr. Isaac Berzin is the founder of Cambridge-based GreenFuel Technologies -- a venture-backed developer of algae-based biofuels -- and the founding director of the Institute for Alternative Energy Policy at the IDC in Herzliya, Israel. Earlier this year, Dr. Berzin was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in politics, business, and science.

Back in June, I had the honor of hosting Dr. Berzin at a CleanIsrael meetup event in Ramat Hasharon.

On November 20th, Dr. Berzin will speak to an audience of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and graduate students at Harvard Business School. The event is sponsored by Goodwin Procter LLP and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), in collaboration with the HBS Business & Environment Club, Harvard Kennedy School's Israel Caucus, MIT-Israel Program, and the New England Israel Business Council. You can find out more and RSVP at the event's meetup page.

Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place

Shai Agassi of Better Place is scheduled to visit Boston on December 3rd and 4th. Stay tuned for more details.

AquAgro invests $1.5 million in Transbiodiesel

Transbiodiesel, an Israeli biodiesel startup that is developing a novel technology to produce the fuel, has raised $1.5 million from the AquAgro Fund and signed a cooperation agreement with an unnamed American biodiesel company, according to a report in Globes.

The enzymatic process Transbiodiesel uses can apparently produce biodiesel in a more environmentally friendly manner. The overall process is also supposed to be cheaper than standard methods for making biodiesel.

Transbiodiesel CEO Sobhi Basheer founded the company at the L.N. Innovative Technologies Ltd. incubator's Agudat Hagalil Ltd. R&D center in the Israeli Arab city of Shfaram in the Galilee. Bashir helped established Agudat Hagalil in 1999.

Basheer and L.N. Innovative Technologies each own 35% of Transbiodiesel, AquaAgro owns 25%, and Altshuler Shaham Ltd. and Zeev Bronfman jointly own 5%.

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Evogene, Orfuel and Leviev Group to establish biodiesel company in Namibia, Africa

Evogene, Orfuel, and the Leviev Group have announced an agreement to establish a biodiesel company in Namibia, Africa.

The new company will be focused on the growth of specialized castor plants for use as feedstock for biodiesel. It will be headquartered in Namibia, with operations in Namibia and possibly other African countries.

Evogene and Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, have already been working together since September 2007 on developing non-edible plants for commercial biodiesel production, and the castor plants for the new venture will be selected from varieties being developed in the Evogen-Orfuel collaboration. The collaboration is being funded with a grant from the BIRD Foundation.

Land for the crop growth will come from the Leviev Group, which will also provide logistical infrastructure for the project.

"This collaboration fits well into Evogene's business model in the field of biodiesel, and constitutes an additional stage towards commercialization of the plants developed through the joint project with Orfuel in one of the potential target locations," stated Ofer Haviv, Evogene's president and CEO. "We are convinced that with our extensive capabilities in plants together with the vast experience of the Leviev Group in Africa, we will be able to develop improved feedstock addressing the needs of the alternative fuel industry."

Netafim in negotiations with sugarcane ethanol project in Mozambique

In other news, BioEnergy Africa has raised $15.2 million on the London Stock Exchange to fund development of a 438 million liters per yea sugercane ethanol plant in Mozambique.

The company is in discussions with Tel Aviv, Israel-based Netafim to design, procure, and install a subsurface drip irrigation system for the project’s cane fields. At full capacity, the project will include approximately 60,500 acres of planted sugarcane.

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IC Green Energy launches takeover bid for German biodiesel manufacturer Petrotec

IC Green Energy, a subsidiary of Israel Corp., has announced a takeover bid for Petrotec AG, a Germany-based biodiesel company, valuing Petrotec at about 28 million euros.

Petrotec says IC Green Energy has already bought a 42% stake in the company, and remaining shareholders are to receive a voluntary takeover offer at the same price (2.70 euros per share).

Petrotec is a manufacturer of biodiesel based on alternative feedstocks. The company produces biodiesel with its multi-feedstock technology from yellow grease, animal fats and virgin vegetable fats and oils. In 2007, Petrotec produced 50,800 tons of biodiesel. It has the capacity to produce up to 185,000 tons of biodiesel a year at its two plants in Germany.

IC Green Energy CEO Yom Tov Samia told Globes, "The acquisition of Petrotec is ICG's first investment in the European market as part of our strategy to deepen its activity in the value chain in the biofuels market."

At a Tel Aviv University event in May, Samia outlined IC Green Energy's "12-12 Vision" to be one of the 12 leading companies worldwide in the field of renewable energy by 2012. In order to achieve this goal, IC Green Energy aims to process 4-5% of the global biofuel market (~4 million tons), and Samia emphasized that the company's biofuel production will be based solely on non-edible feedstock.

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Monsanto to invest in Evogene, collaborate on plant research

Monsanto Co., and Israel's Evogene Ltd., which develops improved plants for agriculture and novel feedstocks for biofuels, recently entered into a five-year research and development collaboration focused on identifying key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress and fertilizer utilization.

The collaboration aims to "discover and deliver novel, yield-enhancing technologies at a time of increasing demand for grain globally," the companies said in a statement.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Evogene will provide Monsanto with candidate genes discovered by Evogene's computational platform and Monsanto will pay Evogene $35 million over the research term of the collaboration. Products that emerge from the gene discovery program will be commercialized by Monsanto, and Monsanto will pay Evogene additional milestone and royalty payments based on sales of any resulting products.

In a separate agreement, Monsanto has purchased an $18 million equity stake in Evogene and has agreed to purchase an additional $12 million in the future, subject to certain Evogene due diligence requirements.

In April, 2008, AquAgro Fund, an Israeli cleantech-focused venture capital fund, agreed to invest $2 million in Evogene at a price of NIS 6.5 per share. Following the Monsanto annoucement, Evogene shares are now trading at NIS 8.78 per share on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Martin Gerstel, Chairman of Evogene, stated, "Having the world's leading agriculture company as a major collaborator moving forward is clearly a transforming event in the history of our company, and we welcome Monsanto as a shareholder. Furthermore, with its new financial commitment, we are now convinced that Evogene has the resources required to agressively pursue our two primary areas of interest -- improved plants for agriculture and novel feedstocks for biofuels."

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US energy co AES negotiating with Israeli biofuel and wind companies

AES Corporation, a $10 billion global power company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reportedly is pursuing contacts for expanding its activity in Israel. Sources inform ''Globes'' that the company is in negotiations to invest NIS 25-27 million ($8 million) in Israeli alternative energy company GNRY Ltd..

GNRY produces electricity from steam generated by burners, which use wood chips as fuel. The company set up its first facility in Israel at the Galam factory at Kibbutz Maanit at an estimated investment of $7 million.

For more about GNRY, check out these articles on Green Prophet and Ynet News.

Earlier this month, "Globes" reported that the company may also become a partner in a 400-megawatt wind energy project to be built by Mei Golan Wind Energy Development Ltd. on the Golan Heights.

Seambiotic to build algae-based biofuel plant in Israel

Tel Aviv-based Seambiotic and Seattle-based Inventure Chemical are teaming up to build an algae-based biofuel plant in Israel. The companies announced on Wednesday a joint venture to use CO2 emissions-fed algae to make ethanol and biodiesel.

The plant will use algae strains developed by Seambiotic. Founded in 2003, the company has been carrying out research and development at the Israel Electric Corporation's Ashkelon power station. The station pipes carbon dioxide from smokestacks to Seambiotic's algae ponds.

Check out this video for an explanation of Seambiotic's algae production technology.



Seambiotic's technology for producing algae will now be coupled with with Inventure’s algae to biofuel conversion processes to produce ethanol, biodiesel and other value-added chemicals. Inventure already makes biodiesel and ethanol from algae at an R&D site in Seattle.

“This is a milestone for Inventure, and for the next generation of biofuels,” said Mark Tegen, Inventure’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “Seambiotic has been extremely successful in its algae-based CO₂ sequestering project with Israeli Electric Corporation, which proves the viability of their model. Combining their algae production technology with our algae to biofuel conversion process will close the loop.”

Seambiotic is led by CEO Amnon Bechar and Chief Scientific Adviser Prof. Ami Ben-Amotz.

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Isaac Berzin to address Cleantech Israel group

Dr. Isaac Berzin, the founder of Boston-based GreenFuel Technologies, will be the featured speaker at the next Cleantech Israel event on June 17.

Dr. Berzin, now a Senior Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, was recently named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in politics, business, and science. He will discuss his experience at GreenFuel Technologies, which produces algae-based biofuels, and his plans to establish an Institute for Alternative Energy Policy in Israel.

For more information about GreenFuel Technologies, check out this video:



The event is sponsored by Terra Venture Partners. Please RSVP online.

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IC Green Energy and Yom-Tov Samia

Yom-Tov Samia, former head of the IDF's Southern Command and now the Director of IC Green Energy, a subsidiary of Israel Corp., gave an interesting, no-nonsense presentation on his company's areas of activity and strategies for cleantech investment at the Renewable Energy and Beyond conference at Tel Aviv University (see this post for more observations from the conference).

According to Samia, the transition to renewable energy is no longer a question of choice, but rather a necessity in order to effectively address: (1) national security through energy independence; and (2) environmental concerns and greenhouse gas emissions.

Samia outlined IC Green Energy's "12-12 Vision" to be one of the 12 leading companies worldwide in the field of renewable energy by 2012. In order to achieve this goal, the company aims to process 4-5% of the global biofuel market (~4 million tons) and construct 2-3 significant renewable energy (biomass or solar) power plants in the next few years.

IC Green Energy's areas of activity are:

• biofuels – biodiesel and ethanol – based on existing, 1st generation technologies (just for market entry)
• energy from biomass – based on developing, 2nd generation technologies
• solar energy (photovoltaics and concentrating solar power)
• advanced technologies for clean energy
• carbon trading

The company's key strategies are to:

1. be big or go home – size does count; strive for measurable presence
2. act with strong, strategic local partners
3. vertical integrate, when practical, its supply chain
4. plan, organize and produce globally while acting regionally/locally
5. gain advantages in:
• cutting edge technologies
• risk management though purchase of raw materials and product sales
• local logistics and cost-effective production

Samia says that approximately 60% of IC Green Energy's renewable energy investment will be in solar technologies, and the remaining investment will be in biofuels. While the company is clearly focused on making a profit, its business strategy is apparently also taking social concerns into account . Accordingly, its biofuel production will be based solely on non-edible feedstock such as Jatropha, Castor, cellulosic biomass and algae. As Samia explained, "We will not take bread from the poor to produce gasoline for the rich!"

IC Green Energy had made 3 undisclosed investments so far, and Samia hinted that a major investment related to cellulosic ethanol is in the works and might be announced soon.

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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."

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AquAgro Fund announces launch of Aqua Lab for early stage investments

Nir Belzer and Hillel Milo, the managing partners of the AquAgro Fund, announced the launch of Aqua Lab and discussed their fund's investment strategy in an exclusive interview in "Globes".

AquAgro Fund, a venture capital fund affiliated with Gaon Agro Industries Ltd., is focused primarily on mid-to-late stage water, agriculture and other cleantech-related companies. The fund recently invested $4 million in Advanced Desalination Technologies. AquAgro has raised $40 million and plans to close on $100 million by the end of 2008.

Aqua Lab

With the launch of Aqua Lab, which will operate in a format similar to that of a technology incubator, AquAgro Fund will now also be involved in making seed and early-stage investments.

"We decided to set it up together with two overseas funds, and it will be managed by Oded Sagee [Chief Scientist of Gaon Agro Industries]," says Nir Belzer. "The important thing here is that Aqua Lab is not a fund, and so there are no limitations on the time one can spend raising money for it. Venture capital funds, by contrast, have a deadline set out in the prospectus, by which time you have to have secured the maximum commitment out of the designated target sum. We will decide whether to float or merge Aqua Lab depending on how profitable and successful it is. In other words, its unique structure gives us flexibility in various matters," Belzer adds. Milo will be company chairman.

According to Belzer, each company under the Aqua Lab umbrella will receive between $250,000 and $750,000 in investment, with an option of follow-on investment under the auspices of the AquAgro Fund. Belzer and Milo prefer not to disclose the names of the funds that have joined the investment so far but say that one is from the US and the other European, with all three entities owning the company in equal shares.

"We want Aqua Lab to have an international character with the partners sharing responsibility," explains Milo. At the same time as the tying up of the procedural ends entailed in the formation of the company, which has already been registered, Aqua Lab is seriously considering investments in two companies, and hopes to finalize these by the end of the current quarter. Also under consideration are early stage investments in four more companies.

Investment in agriculture and food

Globes: How will the fund operate?

Milo: "It will last for 8-10 years. We will not invest more than 10% of the fund in one company and we intend to reach 12-13 investments in all, provided that we manage to raise $100 million. The idea is to create an adequate spread of the risks on the one hand, while maintaining a critical mass in each company on the other."

Belzer and Milo have known each other for 10 years, and both have gained knowledge and investment experience in other funds. They teamed up with Benny Gaon, Chairman of Gaon Agro Industries, who wanted to set up a cleantech fund, and gave it shape and focus. He brought the money. The fund focuses principally on water, alternative energy, smart agriculture and food, "and we don't go in for trends," says Belzer. "We will stick to things that really are essential. Such as, for instance, cost reduction, which is a critical factor when selecting a technology - reducing the price of a cubic meter of desalinated water, a kilowatt hour of solar energy, and the consumption of water per hectare for a specific crop," Milo explains.

The fund employs a utility model when investing in technologies designed to cut costs. This means that if the company has significantly reduced its price per unit, the fund shares in the profits and not just the technology. "This is the sole incentive to buy technologies like these. Ultimately, it's a commodity, so costs are a critical element," says Belzer.

What differentiates your fund from others?

Milo: "We have several unique characteristics, one of which is the fact that we will also invest in agriculture and food, fields which other cleantech funds (worldwide as well) avoid. Because of the changes in regulation and requirements in the food industry, there are now a lot of investment opportunities for venture capital in these two fields."

Belzer: "There is now rivalry between products that serve as food ingredients and fuel applications. Smart agriculture focuses on the growing of inedible crops, on residual land and in saline water. One option is the growing of seaweed. There is no shortage of saline water in the Negev, the Jordan Valley and the Arava region. Israel will be an excellent trial site for this, and the big money will be in the growing of raw materials for producing biomass fuel. We're well ahead of the rest of the world in smart agriculture and water and we are poised to build a strong strategic presence in them."

Hillel Milo is a mechanical engineer and co-founded Walden Israel, Clal Venture Capital, and Israel Infinity Venture Capital, and was also managing partner of Alice Ventures. Nir Belzer is a computer and avionics engineer and co-founder of the Millenium funds.

Ormat backs off biodiesel facility, to continue collaboration with Evogene

Ormat Industries Ltd. today announced that it is postponing plans to develop and build a commercial biodiesel facility. Ormat announced 18 months ago that it would invest $35-50 million in a biodiesel production facility within two years. Ormat is foregoing construction of the biodiesel plant because prices for commodities, including commodities for biofuel production, have soared rendering biodiesel much more expensive to the point of not being economically viable.

Ormat, however, will continue to focus on its collaboration with an academic institution, whose identity it declines to disclose, and with Evogene Ltd. on the development of plants for biodiesel production.

In December 2007, Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, and Rehovot-based Evogene, a leading Ag-Biotech company, signed an agreement with the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) to obtain a $1 million grant for support of a joint biofuel project.

According to a press release issued by the companies, Evogene and Orfuel are collaborating to develop non edible plants displaying improved oil yield and capable of being grown in non arable lands, thus address key problems facing the biofuel industry. These plants are expected to significantly decrease feedstock costs for biodiesel production. Under terms of the collaboration, Evogene will utilize its advanced biotechnological capabilities (such as gene and molecular marker discovery), in the development of the enhanced crops which will then be evaluated in field trials conducted by Orfuel. In addition, Orfuel will evaluate suitability and methodologies for using such crops for biodiesel production. Upon project completion, Evogene and Orfuel intend to establish a joint venture aimed at commercialization of the developed plants

New Israeli agritech fund established

"Globes" reports that a new agritech fund, the Central Arava Fund, established with the support of Australian Jewish investors, will begin operating in April 2008. The new fund aims to establish agrotech and agrobiotech companies in the Arava region of the Negev. A second goal is to create high-tech job opportunities for residents of the Arava after their studies.

The Central Arava Fund expects to raise an initial $5-8 million, and raise an additional $40 million in the second stage. The bulk of the financing will come from Australian Jews. Arava residents and companies will be able to invest in the fund with minimum investments of $25,000.

Central Arava Fund's managers will be Eliezer Manor and Gil Lissai. Manor, a physicist, is a veteran venture capitalist, and founder of the Israel Venture Association. Lissai has experience in agriculture. He has worked with farms in both the Arava and in other countries and advised high-tech ventures and exporters.

The fund's mangers and investors discuss their plans in more detail in this YouTube video. The fund is apparently considering investing in biofuels and other alternative energy technologies related to agriculture.

Evogene and Orfuel receive biodiesel grant

Evogene Ltd. and Orfuel Inc., a US subsidiary of Ormat Industries Ltd., have signed an agreement with the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) to obtain a $1 million grant for support of a joint biofuel project.

The Evogene and Orfuel joint project is aimed at providing substantially improved feedstock sources for biodiesel production. The companies will collaborate to develop non-edible plants that display improved oil yields and are capable of being grown in non-arable lands, thus addressing key problems facing the industry.

(Sourced here)