Thursday, March 27, 2008

Highlights from first Cleantech Israel meetup event

On March 27, Shai Agassi was in Copenhagen to announce a partnership between Project Better Place and DONG Energy to develop a network of electric-car recharging stations in Denmark.

Meanwhile, back in Israel, more than fifty people, including a mix of entrepreneurs, venture investors, government officials and other key stakeholders in the industry, participated in the launch of the new Cleantech Israel meetup group.

The event, held at Max Brenner on Hamenofim St. in Herzliya Pituach, included presentations by Jack Levy, General Partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures, who provided an overview of recent developments in the sector; and Eran Yarkoni, founder and CEO of EnStorage, who gave a start-up's perspective on licensing "clean-tech" technology. EnStorage recently completed a financing round from Greylock Partners, Canaan Partners of the US, and Siemens Venture Capital, and its technology is licensed from Tel Aviv University.

I would like to thank everyone who participated, including individuals from cleantech companies Aqwise, CheckLight, Edig Solar, Emefcy, En Gibton, Phoebus Energy, and TechnoSpin Wind; and from investors such as Genesis Partners, Lab-One Innovations, Magnolia Capital, Moreno Meister, Naiot, and Terra Venture Partners. Also in attendance were Yael Cohen Paran, the Director of the new Israel Energy Forum, and Tsvi Bisk, the creator of the Jewish Energy Project.

A special thanks to Noam Ilan, the Director of Renewable Energy in Eilat-Eilot, and our guest from the California Public Utilities Commission, both of whom traveled a long way to join us.

I would also like to acknowledge my fellow bloggers -- Tali Aben, Lisa Damast, and Kfir Pravda - it was great to meet you in person!

The event was sponsored by Goodwin Procter LLP, a U.S. law firm with an extensive Cleantech Practice.