Cleantech Investments comes to City of Light

About 40 entrepreneurial cleantech companies are in the City of Light this week to present to potential investors, exhibit their innovations, speak in front of industry leaders, and of course, engage in networking opportunities.

Amongst the companies presenting to investors, some have received close attention from potential investors; including Belgium-based Fluitec which develops products designed to optimize the life and maximize the performance of lubricating fluids, Netherlands-based Avantium, which is developing technology for producing Furanics, a class of chemical that can be used to create a range of plastics and other materials, Belgium-based SBAE which is developing industrial production technologies for micro-algae and is planning to build a farm producing diatom micro-algae (Bacillariophyta) in large quantities at low cost,  MBA Polymers which specializes in recycling plastics from end-of-life durable goods streams; also Switzerland-based Flexcell which has developed an industrial process for applying amorphous silicon by very high frequency (VHF) plasma deposition, originally developed at the Institute of Microtechnology (IMT) of the University of Neuchâtel.

European investors have been making significant progress in catching up with the global trend in cleantech investments, especially in some sectors that Europe has leading innovations in the world such as agribusiness, speciality chemicals, industrial applications , water management and recycling processes.

It is also encouraging to see increasing number of investors coming from smaller European economies such as Belgium, Sweden, The Netherland, the green investments was previously dominated by investors from UK, Germany and France, the market is now much more advanced with a  wide range of new investors stepping into Green investments.

Green Investor Destination: Israel

We already know Israel is a powerhouse in venture capital investments, so this is hardly a surprise that Israel is also a global leader when comes to Green investments, especially when comes to water investments. Israeli firms have invested in a diversified portfolio of water related technologies; and have invested as far as China, India, and have invested in filtering technologies, water irrigation systems, agribusinesses, as well as providing funding for infrastructure; to water purification technologies by the army (instant water purification bags).

Other related technologies also include specialty chemicals used to protect water pipes; and SCADA systems. Many Israeli VC funds are now transforming their technology investment expertise into cleantech investments.

If you are involved in the water technology, I would say, Israel is certainly one of the first stops you should consider when comes to capital raising, let’s have a look some of the firms in Israel today:

Assif-Strategies Ltd.
Assif-Strategies Ltd, established in 2001, specializes in cleantech initiatives and renewable energy, as well as, in providing environmental strategic consulting services for industry, businesses and financial institutions. The company is involved in areas such as water management, technology and carbon reduction technologies.

Benchmark Israel Venture Capital Ltd.
They focus on early-stage investing, traditionally, Benchmark is very dedicated to technology companies especially in the telecommunications & semiconductors industries, but like many other venture capital investors in Israel, they are also expanding to the new cleantech areas. Their investments range in size from as little as $100,000 to as much as $10 or $15 million.

BRM Capital
It is a $100 million private equity program which provides seed or start-up or early stage investments, sectors include technology which could include certain CleanTech technologies, again, the company has funded innovators in Israel and outside Israel. It is one of the very active funds in Israel.

New CleanTech Fund: Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray to seek up to $300 million for clean tech fund

Piper Jaffray is joining the rest of the investor world in ramping up its commitment to the growing universe of clean technology industries.

Piper filed a form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 14 announcing that it’s seeking to raise up to $300 million in equity for its planned Clean Tech Alliance Fund, L.P.

Scott Barrington, director Piper’s private equity group and manager of its other clean tech funds, was listed on the current filing as manager for the new fund.  The fund would constitute a big next step for Piper, which was one of the first middle-market investment banks to jump into the clean tech field, which encompasses products or services that improve operational performance or efficiency while reducing energy consumption, waste, or pollution. The firm was the nation’s leading underwriter for renewable and clean tech investments in 2006 and 2007, and beginning in 2005 it launched two funds of funds to give clean tech investment opportunities to institutional players.

Green Investment: Sustainable Agriculture is the next big thing

Some have called as Agriculture 2.0 in US illustrating the innovation and importance of sustainable agriculture. The world continues to face shortage in food, especially driven by the demand from emerging markets, as well as shortage caused by major droughts in producing countries such as Australia.

Venture capitalists say a growing awareness of conventional agriculture’s contribution to climate change and concerns over its consumption of water and energy are creating markets for technological innovation to minimize those effects.

Some companies have attracted investments recently such as Solum, a company started by three Stanford physics graduates that is developing tools to perform real-time measurement of the nutrient content of soil. Such measurements allow fertilizer to be precisely applied, avoiding nitrogen runoff and contamination of waterways, it has attracted investments from Khosla Ventures, a major greentech investment company.

Other applications that have attracted investments attentions including artificial soils which can be used in Africa or deserts, a company called Soil Sub in Australia was listed and sold its products to China; as well as technologies that can grow organic farms on rooftops which have attracted investors from Japan and Singapore.

For more information about Green Investments & Green Investors, please have a look of our Global Green Investors Guide on http://researchwhitepaper.com, it has thousands of contacts and hundreds of Green Investors listed in the database as well as monthly updates.