Tigo Energy adds three cleantech industry veterans to board of advisors

Tigo Energy, a California- and Israel-based solar startup developing technology to increase efficiency in photovoltaic installations, announced today that industry veterans, Professor Takashi Tomita, Mr. Yair Cohen and Dr. Nathan Zommer, have agreed to join the company's board of advisors.
Yair Cohen was previously a Brig. General (Res.) in the IDF and head of the IDF's famous Unit 8200, responsible for collecting signal intelligence and code decryption -- Israel's equivalent to the NSA. As described in this Forbes article, Unit 8200 alumni have founded high-tech companies such as Check Point, ICQ, Nice, AudioCodes and Gilat. Mr. Cohen is now Senior Vice-President of IDB Group, one of Israel's largest holding companies, he occupies executive positions at Clal Energy and Elron, and he is a director of cleantech companies Atlantium and AqWise. In November 2008, Clal Energy announced a collaboration agreement with Tigo Energy.

Nathan Zommer, PhD is the Chairman and CEO of Nasdaq-listed IXYS Corporation, which he founded in 1983. During IXYS' 25 year history, he has been an advocate of energy efficient technologies as strategic investment opportunities. Zommer has served as a director since 1983 and as chairman of the board, president and CEO since March 1993. Prior to founding IXYS, Zommer served in a variety of positions with Intersil, Hewlett Packard and General Electric, including as a scientist in the Hewlett Packard Laboratories and director of the Power MOS division for Intersil/General Electric. Zommer also holds many patents in Power OSFETs and IGBTs.

Takashi Tomita now serves as Visiting Professor of the University of Tokyo, Research Center of Advanced Science and Technology; and as a Member of the Market Strategy Board of the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC). Prior to this, Tomita provided 34 years of successful leadership at SHARP Corporation. As an Executive Director of Sharp and head of the Solar Business Group, Tomita guided the company to become the largest solar supplier in the world for seven consecutive years, achieved a total solar business volume of $1.5bn in 2006, and established Sharp as the top residential solar supplier in Japan.

The three new appointees will join Gary Gerber, President of the California Solar Energy Industries Association -- SEIA; and CEO of Sun, Light & Power on the Tigo Energy board of advisors.

"We are pleased that these gentlemen -- each a key leader in the energy sector -- have recognized the potential within Tigo Energy's solar solution," stated Ron Hadar, President of Tigo Energy. "Each has committed their assistance towards our goal of accelerating solar adoption."

Mr. Cohen, Senior Vice President of IDB Group stated, "Tigo's innovative technology and great people position the company for strong contributions to the Solar Industry. I'm happy to be part of the team."

Speaking of the recent additions to the board of advisors and future of the company, Tigo Energy CEO Sam Arditi said, "Tigo Energy is honored to have these international industry leaders join as advisors. We will take their recommendations seriously and look forward to contributing to the growth of the industry as a whole."

According to the company's web site, Tigo Energy builds hardware and software intelligence into solar energy installations, making them more efficient, more manageable, and safer. By maximizing the energy output of each individual module, Tigo's advanced balance-of-system products deliver lower cost of ownership and a faster return on investment for existing and new solar installations. Started in 2007, Tigo has raised six million dollars in a round led by Matrix Partners and OVP Venture Partners, and successfully deployed beta installations across US and Europe in cooperation with prominent regional installers.

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.

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SolarEdge raises $23 million in venture capital

BotanoCap raises $2.3m to develop environmentally-friendly pesticides

BotanoCap Ltd., an Ashkelon Technological Industries (ATI) portfolio company, has raised $2.3 million from Swiss holding company BHCO Group, a current investor, at a company value of $11.3 million, according to a report in Globes. BotanoCap is developing patented environmentally-friendly pesticides and disinfectants based on microcapsules of essential oils.

BotanoCap is collaborating with Mekorot to develop pesticides for water sources and drinking water. BotanoCap CTO Prof. Arie Markus, vice CTO Paullina Strongin, and Regulatory Affairs Officer Dr. Charles Linder founded the company. Dr. Yigal Gezundhait, the company's CEO, recently participated in the California Israel Chamber of Commerce Cleantech Tour. BotanoCap was profiled on Israel21c last week.

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.

CICC Cleantech Tour underway in Silicon Valley

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) inaugural Cleantech Tour is now underway. 12 Israeli cleantech companies will meet with industry leaders, investment firms and utility giants from November 10-13 in Northern California.

The tour is part of the CICC's Cleantech Initiative, and the CICC has lined up and impressive series of events and meetings for the partipating companies: 3G Solar, BotanoCap, Canarious, Cequesta Water, Coriolis Wind, CellEra, CES - Computerized Electricity Systems, Emefcy - Bio Energy Systems, HCL Clean Tech, Metrolight, SOVNA, and Tigo Energy

Details on the tour and registration for Tuesday's public event at Stanford are available on the CICC web site.

Israeli cleantech startups to visit Silicon Valley

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) has just announced a "Call for Companies" for its inaugural "Israel Cleantech Tour 2008".

The tour is part of the CICC's Cleantech Initiative and aims to introduce Israeli cleantech companies to California's key cleantech industry players -- "customers, investors and technology and channel partners." Joining the CICC in hosting the delegation are General Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Google, Applied Materials, California Public Utilities Commmission (CPUC), and The Cleantech Group.

Companies interested in joining the delegation should check out the CICC Cleantech Initiative's web site and download an application form. Only 15 companies will be selected to participate, and applications are due no later than September 20!

Eric Weiss, the Chair of the CICC's Cleantech Initiative, graciously agreed to an interview with "Cleantech Investing in Israel." What follows are his answers to a series of questions about the CICC, the Cleantech Tour, and Israel's cleantech-related connections to Silicon Valley.

JS: What are the origins of the CICC's Cleantech Initiative and 2008 Tour? What other industries has the CICC worked with?

EW: The CICC has always focused on programs that matter to its investor and corporate members. Cleantech is becoming front and center to its membership and is a vital strategic industry in both California and Israel. California is the #1 U.S. state for cleantech investment, has the most aggressive renewable energy policies and has a consumer base predisposed to buying “green”. Meanwhile Israel has over 400 promising cleantech companies and world class scientific research institutions. Creating this initiative was a “no-brainer.”

Over the past 8 years the CICC has successfully worked with a variety of technology industries – semiconductor, software, telecom, Internet/web. Each time we have employed a strategy of partnering with the industry leaders. For example, in the Internet/web we worked with Google, Yahoo, Adobe and Microsoft; in semiconductor it was Motorola, Intel, Applied Materials and Texas Instruments. In cleantech we’re similarly working with leaders in the industry, though we also included policymakers and academia in addition to industrial players. Some of our cleantech partners include: PG&E, GE, California Public Utility Commission, Applied Materials, Google, BrightSource, US Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Israel Cleantech Ventures and Perkins Coie.

JS: What are the goals of the tour?

EW: The goals of the tour are to bring together entrepreneurial, investment, corporate and policy leaders from Israel and California, enable sharing of ideas and ultimately facilitate business between the groups. In prior tours, the results were tangible -- terms sheets and contracts for equity investments, acquisitions, joint R&D and channel partnerships. Also, Israel and California have complementary strengths which can be the basis for collaborative information sharing during the tour – Israel brings leading edge technology and California offers capital and a large market. The format of the tour enables this variety of goals to be achieved – we go far beyond just Powerpoints -- with interactive roundtables, panels, private meetings and company/facility tours.

JS: What is the perception in Silicon Valley, among investors and entrepreneurs, of Israel's cleantech sector?

EW: Silicon Valley knows that Israel is a leader in technology with numerous Israeli success stories including SanDisk, Checkpoint, Mercury and Amdocs. Major companies such as HP, Cisco, Qualcomm, Oracle and Intel have invested accordingly. Israel also has the 2nd largest number of companies in the world listed on the NASDAQ. Many California cleantech leaders have not made the connection that Israel has a technology braintrust that is translating into breakthroughs beyond water and solar, but also in biogas, battery technology, waste treatment, pollution control, wind turbines, and other environmental technology. In the case of Israel, necessity has very much been the mother of invention. When you point this out, it clicks for people and they get it. And that is why we are having this tour and conference, to make it abundantly clear to Silicon Valley how Israel’s technical leadership can help them make money in cleantech.

JS: What cleantech-related connections already exist between Silicon Valley and Israel?

EW: There are many connections besides the obvious ones, such as BrightSource and Better Place. Applied Materials has been active on CICC’s Cleantech Steering Committee and their CEO, Mike Splinter, is on the CICC advisory Board. Intel, as well, is very active in Israel and Intel Capital has been getting quite active in cleantech. PG&E not only works with BrightSource, but also Solel. Ormat is actively growing its geothermal plant in California. GE’s cleantech investment arm is in San Francisco but also has a thriving presence in Israel. Moreover, many of the same entrepreneurs and investors who were active in semiconductor, software and other technology in both Israel and California are still working in both geographies, but now in cleantech – examples include Sass Somekh and Eric Benhamou, and investors from Greylock and US Venture Partners.