Israel Venture Capital Jounal: "Can cleantech sail through the slump?"

The current issue of the Israel Venture Capital Journal, published by the IVC Research Center, is now available online.

Entitled "High C: Can cleantech sail through the slump?" (pdf), the issue contains a list of Israeli cleantech companies and articles by cleantech investors and entrepreneurs, government officials, and service providers:

• Sustainable development is essential for our future, by Minister of National Infrastructures, Benjamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer
• Belt tightening impacts cleantech trends, by Richard Youngman, Managing Director (Europe) of Cleantech Group
• The landscape has changed, but the opportunity persists, by Zeev Holtzman, Chairman of IVC and Giza Venture Capital
  
• Adjusting to cleantech investment, by Eytan Levy, CEO of Emefcy, and Gene Dolgin, analyst at Israel Cleantech Ventures
• The next cleantech frontier: Africa, by Daniel Schwab, Managing Director of Kayema Investments, and Miriam Schwab, CEO of Illuminea Marketing & Media
• Solar thermal energy: Israel and the Obama opportunity, by David Anthony, Managing Partner at 21Ventures
• Cleantech, Clusters, and Convergence: How investors and entrepreneurs combine to save the planet, Prof. Philip Cooke of Cardiff University
• US Government Grants: An alternative source of funds for Israeli cleantech startups, by Itai Nevo and Jonathan Shapira of Goodwin Procter LLP
  
• Cleantech calls for a different VC approach, by Rafi Gidron, Orni Petruschka, Nimrod Good and Albert Olier of Precede Technologies
• Light and harmony come mainstream, a profile of Arnold Goldman, Chairman of BrightSource Energy
• Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about cow manure, by Shlomi Ben-Arush, Marketing Manager at Global Environmental Solutions
• Early stage investing in a challenging environment, by Astorre Modena, General Partner of Terra Venture Partners
• The next opportunity in cleantech: A holistic approach to the water and energy nexus, by Booky Oren, Chairman of Miya
  
• In a downturn, aggressive communication and PR are key, by Steve Schuster, CEO of Rainier Communications
  
• Yes, Israel can take advantage of opportunities in cleantech! by Sarit Soccary Ben Yochanan, CEO of ATI Incubator
  
• Cleantech IP trends: intellectual property management from a business perspective, by Sharon Dayan, VP of Business Development at GTT Global Technology Transfer
  

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.

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.

Related Posts:

CellEra raises $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures and BrainsToVentures

Global map of cleantech startups includes five Israel-related companies

Israel Cleantech Ventures invests in CellEra, fuel cell startup