CellEra raises $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures and BrainsToVentures

CellEra Inc., a Caesarea, Israel-based start-up developing a platinum-free membrane-based fuel cell technology (PFM-FC), has reportedly raised $2 million from German angel investor group BrainsToVentures and existing investor Israel Cleantech Ventures.

According to a German press release from BrainsToVentures and an article in the Financial Times’ German edition, both of which were originally reported by Earth2Tech, CellEra has raised $2 million and developed its first prototype.

CEO Ziv Gottesfeld, in an interview with Earth2Tech, confirmed the news and said that the $2 million is part of a larger investment round.

Gottesfeld also says that CellEra already is working with a major manufacturer and is integrating its fuel cells into backup power systems. CellEra plans to use its new cash to turn its working prototype into its first commercial product, Gottesfeld told Earth2Tech, adding that the company aims to have products ready for the market in two years.

According to the press release from BrainsToVentures, CellEra believes it can cut fuel-cell development and manufacturing costs by more than 70 percent by eliminating the most expensive material – platinum. Platinum currently costs $1500 per ounce, approximately double the price from a year ago.

Christian Schüetz, a at BrainsToVentures, told the Financial Times’ German edition that he expects CellEra to introduce fuel cells for hybrid cars by 2015.

Gottesfeld refuses to speculate on when CellEra's technology would be ready for vehicle applications, but he said that CellEra's technology could work “very nicely and cost-effectively” with batteries to extend the range of electric vehicles in the future.

CellEra, founded in 2007 by CEO Ziv Gotttesfeld and VP R&D Dario Dekel, raised an inital $2 million investment from Israel Cleantech Ventures in 2008. Later that year, Roger Saillant, a fuel cell industry veteran and former CEO of NASDAQ-listed Plug Power, joined CellEra's board of directors.

CellEra's CTO is Dr. Shimshon Gottesfeld, former CTO for MTI Micro and the director of the fuel cell research program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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Roger Saillant, fuel cell industry veteran, joins CellEra board of directors

CellEra Inc., a developer of Platinum-Free membrane-based fuel cell technology (PFM-FC), announced today the appointment of Roger Saillant to its Board of Directors. The appointment is expected to bring Saillant’s extensive fuel cell management and company building experience to CellEra at a time when the start-up is preparing for its next phase of technology and market development with its disruptive PFM fuel cell technology.

Until recently, Dr. Saillant served as CEO & President of Latham, NY-based Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG), where he re-oriented the company towards production and commercialization, and led the industry in fuel cell system installs. Prior to PLUG, Saillant was Vice President and General Manager of Visteon Corporation’s (NYSE:VC) Energy Transformation Division, where he delivered $5.5 billion of automotive components globally to the Ford Motor Company and other automotive customers.

"CellEra’s disruptive technology holds true potential to alleviate major stack cost barriers and finally unlock fuel cells’ potential for massive market penetration. I believe CellEra’s management team has the proven track record and the capacity to execute," Saillant stated.

CellEra is a portfolio company of Israel Cleantech Ventures. CellEra's management team includes Dr. Shimshon Gottesfeld, CTO; Dr. Dario R. Dekel, VP R&D; and Ziv Gottesfeld, CEO.

Hat tip to Gene Dolgin, Analyst at Israel Cleantech Ventures, for sending me the announcement.

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Earth2Tech, a web site that provides cleantech news and analysis, has posted a map of 101 cleantech startups around the world, with useful information (investors, technology, etc.) broken out for each company.

No fewer than five Israel-related companies are on the list, including water disinfection company Atlantium Technologies; photovoltaic developer Pythagoras Solar; fuel-cell maker CellEra; electric car infrastructure developer Project Better Place; and biofuel company GreenFuel Technologies.

Project Better Place and GreenFuel Technologies are based in the U.S., but both companies were founded by Israelis and are engaged in R&D in Israel.

Project Better Place was founded by Shai Agassi and the company announced that it will roll out the first nationwide electric vehicle recharge grid in Israel by 2011.

GreenFuel Technologies was founded by Israeli chemical engineer Isaac Berzin during his postdoctoral studies at MIT in Boston. The company is developing an innovative process to recycle carbon dioxide or smokestack emissions to produce biofuels and feed. GreenFuel is collaborating with AlgaTech of Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava to make the process cost effective.

This is an impressive showing by Israel's growing cleantech cluster, especially considering that only two companies in all of Europe were included in the Earth2Tech list.

Israel Cleantech Ventures invests in CellEra, fuel cell start-up

Sources inform ''Globes'' that Israel Cleantech Ventures has invested in fuel cell start-up CellEra.

CellEra CEO Ziv Gottesfeld and VP R&D Dario Dekel founded the company in 2007. It is developing a disruptive technology promising to turn fuel-cell power sources into a mass-market commercial reality. According to IVC Online, CellEra has five employees and hopes to increase the financing round.

Israel Cleantech Ventures is the country's first specialized venture capital fund investing in energy, water, and environmental companies. Its general partners are Jack Levy, Glen Schwaber, and Meir Unkeles.

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