March 21, 2007
The Solar Cell Sector's Famous Founder You Haven't Heard Of
He's not as famous as those other Scandinavian founders Zennstrom and Friis, but Norway's Alf Bjorseth should be. He has created a company with a bigger valuation than Skype's and he's not finished yet.
Bjorseth is the scientist-turned-entrepreneur that rolled up the four solar cell production startups he had co-founded to create Renewable Energy Corp. REC Group's market cap today is €8.5B.
He made some serious money from the REC floatation a few years ago. Now some of that capital is being re-invested in Scatec AS, which backs renewable energy and materials companies, some with potentially disruptive tech.
And he's much in demand as a board member - he recently joined the board of Innovalight, Inc., a Silicon Valley startup developing silicon-ink based printed solar cells.
Scatec has made investments, along with VCs, in Norsun, a solar silicon producer active in Norway and France (through a JV), Isosilicon AS, a developer of a type of silicon that takes longer to heat, and n-tec a Norwegian nanotubes startup.
Innovalight is venture capital backed by ARCH Venture Partners, Apax Partners (a European firm that knows a thing or two about solar startups see link below), Harris & Harris Group, Inc., Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures.
REC Founder Joins Innovalight Board
(press rel)
Read - Apax Homerun On QCells (a:c euro)
Posted at 07:07 AM | TrackBack | Permalink
November 27, 2006
The Wattson Says What's On From Do-It -Yourself Kyoto
Tech that makes consumers a lot more careful with energy is on our minds at the a:c euro this morning.
It's The Nabaztag For The Energy-Saving Set - The Wattson Monitors Household Energy Consumption
Last week the media frenzy over the mysterious death of a former Russian spy in London overshadowed the news coming out of a Russo-EU summit in Finland that the European Union failed to establish a new agreement with Russia for the supply of gas and oil - the terms of agreement for a new charter meant to replace one that will expire next year are not in place.
That failure could very well result in higher oil and gas prices for the region in the coming years. Meanwhile, the Swiss press is reporting the hottest November here in 500 years (how they get the stats for the year 1506 we don't know - but we'll let that query slide).
Rising energy costs and temperatures, means that the market is ripe for the kind of gadgetry from companies like DIY Kyoto, which sells the Wattson. The wireless sensor device displays the amount of energy used in watts or in pounds sterling (it's only available for the UK market at the moment). It also communicates the info via colour. When the sensor is blue, energy consumption is low and if it's red, it's high - so even young children can understand what's going on. PC connectivity is also supported.
It is off to a great start, but there could be a lot more products and services targeting consumers to help reduce energy consumption and to improve energy efficiency across the board.
Read - DIY Kyoto proifle (NESTA)
Read - Russia, EU Meet as Trade Talks Stall on Polish Row (Bloomberg)
Read -
Meat-Imports Ban Dampens EU-Putin Talks (AHN Finland)
Read - EU-Russia summit yields little fruit (people.com.cn)
Posted at 06:57 AM | TrackBack | Permalink
October 05, 2006
Inge's Ultrafiltration Snags First Tranche Of Third Round
German startup, Inge AG, a developer of ultrafiltration technology for the treatment of water (drinking, industrial and waste water) has raised €2.7M in a first closing of a third round, targeting €6M.
The filters reliably remove bacteria, viruses and microorganisms from water.
Read - 2,7 Mio. Euro für inge (venture capital magazin )
