Torsten Wipiejewski pitches cleantech VC VNT Management from Finland
Ecosummit TV: Torsten Wipiejewski pitches VNT Management at ECO13 Berlin. The Finnish cleantech VC was founded in 2002 and raised 3 funds with a total of €157M under management. The European Investment Fund is one of the LPs that committed €25M to VNT’s Power Fund III. Their large portfolio of 16 cleantech startups is mainly focused on renewable energy and electrical systems. As all of the partners of VNT have got an industrial and engineering background, they prefer to invest in startups that they deeply understand and can really add value to. If you make cleantech hardware and deal with power electronics, VNT Management is for you. However, they sometimes make an exception, so don’t be shy to send over your investor presentation. Torsten and his partner Harri are very relaxed and look forward to getting to know the best cleantech startups in Europe.
Read moreSmart green lean startup panel with Cleantech Invest, Savosolar, Wellington Partners, Icos Capital and Ben Energy
Ecosummit TV: Tarja Teppo (Cleantech Invest) moderates the smart green lean startup panel at ECO13 Berlin featuring Jari Varjotie (Savosolar), Bart Markus (Wellington Partners), Peter van Gelderen (Icos Capital) and Jan Marckhoff (Ben Energy). Given that most cleantech startups are capital- and time-intensive, we believe that the lean startup philosophy is the right medicine. Lean startup is all about resource efficient product development with fast iterations to achieve product market fit without wasting too much time and money. While lean startup works well for software startups, the question is whether it can also be applied to hardware startups. For the strategy discussion between the startup management and their VCs, lean startup also means to take smart make or buy decisions to maintain focus and, for example, outsource manufacturing or distribution to reduce CAPEX and OPEX. During an inspiring discussion, our panelists share their experience with being lean while being clean.
Read moreJari Varjotie pitches Savosolar from Finland
Ecosummit TV: Jari Varjotie pitches Savosolar from Finland at ECO13 Berlin. The cleantech startup develops and manufactures very efficient solar thermal absorbers and collectors that are based on patented optical nano coating. In fact, Savosolar claims to be the most efficient solar collector in the field and over 30 customers are a pretty good market proof. Savosolar is backed by Cleantech Invest and currently raises a new round of €4M of which €2M will be public funding. Break-even is planned for 2014 and we believe Savosolar to be an attractive investment opportunity with a nice risk return profile given the advanced development stage of the Finnish startup. Go for it, the sun rises in the north.
Read moreJosefine Ahl pitches Oricane from Sweden
Ecosummit TV: Josefine Ahl pitches Oricane from Sweden at ECO13 Berlin. The smart green startup provides green software for big data applications that saves a lot of hardware and energy. Their product BioCAM is an energy efficient NoSQL database with very low CPU and memory footprint. Oricane is backed by Finnish VC Cleantech Invest. Josefine is so confident of the benefits of Oricane’s software that she proposes a new software licensing model which is not based on CPUs but rather on the service level itself. At ECO13 Berlin, Oricane won Ecosummit Award 2013 Facebook Bronze and, the next day, Josefine demonstrated that she rules the art of startup pitching, too.
Read morePhilipp Schroeder pitches Sonnenbatterie from Bavaria
Ecosummit TV: Philipp Schroeder pitches Sonnenbatterie at Ecosummit Berlin 2013. The German cleantech startup is actually called Prosol Invest Deutschland but the brand they are building is Sonnenbatterie. The smart green product they make and sell like hotcakes is the Tesla of residential energy storage. The solar battery is a smart storage solution with a built-in smart meter that you connect to your PV system and the Internet to actively manage your local energy production and consumption. By using a mobile app the homeowner may easily decide whether to feed-in or consume the homemade electricity. Sonnenbatterie is backed by eCapital and their sales curve has the shape that makes VCs very happy. Founded in 2010, Sonnenbatterie launched in 2011 and has already got €15M in their order book in 2013, with 6 more months to go. At ECO13 Berlin, Sonnenbatterie won Ecosummit Award Jury Bronze in recognition of their business potential and milestones reached. We expect a busy phone line with calls from late stage cleantech VCs trying to get in.
Read moreBart Markus checks the reality of cleantech venture capital
Ecosummit TV: At Ecosummit Berlin 2013, Bart Markus of Wellington Partners provides a very honest reality check of the cleantech venture capital industry. Cleantech investments have gone down, money sits very tight and it is equally difficult for startups and VCs alike to raise new capital. In fact, since 2012 Bart did not make any new investment but rather focused his money and time on his existing portfolio. Now Wellington thinks about whether they should focus on the Internet or raise a dedicated cleantech fund. Still, Bart is an optimist, loves cleantech hardware and sees light at the end of the tunnel. He recommends that startups limit the time and money needed until proof point, tap into other sources of capital and build relationships with potential acquirers early on. Watch Bart on Ecosummit TV to get the full story.
Read moreProf. Eicke Weber is very optimistic about the solar industry
Ecosummit TV: Prof. Eicke Weber, Director of Fraunhofer ISE, is very optimistic about the future of the solar industry. Firstly, the PV cost curve is going down continuously. Even in Germany with Alaska-type sunshine, we can produce electricity with silicon-based PV for 10-12 cents/kWh. At this cost level, grid parity is already outperformed since 1 kWh costs 22 cents (net) in Germany if you buy it from your local utility. Making your own electricity and storing it in a solar battery is a smart economic idea. Secondly, the global solar market will grow 10 times from 30 GW/year in 2012 to 300 GW/year by 2025. At the same time, higher efficiencies and lower production costs make PV competitive with onshore wind and hydro power. The current oversupply of 60 GW/year is a temporary phenomenon that causes trouble for PV manufacturers for another 1-2 years. Afterwards, Europe should reenter the PV industry with a “multi-GW solar Airbus project” to drive the enormous PV industry again as a technology leader.
Read moreConrad Ess pitches Green Technology Staffing and his new crowd recruiting project
Ecosummit TV: People are the key success factor for every company. In this spirit, Conrad Ess pitches Green Technology Staffing at ECO13 Berlin. The Mannheim-based recruiting company helps cleantech startups and corporates find new engineering talents. Now Conrad works on a new startup project to develop a crowd recruiting service for the Smart Green Economy. The idea is not to invent yet another job referral service but rather bring the entire recruiting value chain to the social Internet. While the service is still under development, Conrad is interested in talking to business angels and strategic investors who want to join his crowd recruiting startup. We make sure to give Conrad and his team a hand.
Read moreMoritz Missling pitches Younicos from Berlin
Ecosummit TV: Moritz Missling pitches Younicos that was founded to make the vision of 100% renewable energy become reality. The Berlin-based late stage startup provides large-scale energy storage solutions for renewable offgrid islands and ongrid battery parks. The key technology is a very flexible energy management system that is able to integrate different battery technologies to take advantage of the specific characteristics of each battery technology. One of the famous projects of Younicos is the Graciosa Island whose 4.500 inhabitants shall be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2014. As Younicos would say: “Let the fossils rest in peace.”
Read moreAndreas Spiess pitches Solarkiosk from Berlin
Ecosummit TV: Andreas Spiess wants to bridge the energy divide in Africa as it is the biggest roadblock for development. At ECO13 Berlin, he pitches Solarkiosk that targets 800 million Africans without access to energy. The Berlin-based cleantech startup develops and operates Solarkiosks to provide solar-powered local commerce hubs to offgrid communities. Their vision are entire smart green villages powered by renewable energies. Up to now, Solarkiosk runs 7 sunshops in Ethiopia and 5 in Kenya and has got one year of experience in the field. Having invested €5M Solarkiosk now wants to raise a big VC round to reach the milestone of 100 Solarkiosks in operation. In my opinion, this startup is one of the most exciting I have seen so far, not only because I was born in Nairobi. In fact, I encourage all of us to get involved in at least one renewable energy project in developing countries. Solarkiosk is an obvious candidate.
Read moreVolker Junghanns pitches global law firm Dentons
Ecosummit TV: Volker Junghanns pitches Dentons at ECO13 Berlin. Dentons is a newly created global law firm with 2.500 lawyers in 79 offices in 52 countries. Volker works out of the Frankfurt office and is the German contact for their global Tech Startup Center. Volker is passionate about cleantech and recommends to startups to work with lawyers that understand their business model and its challenges from early on. Whether we talk about relevant industry regulations, tax-optimised business organisation or negotiation skills during fundraising, a smart green lawyer is usually worth the investment.
Read moreRene Savelsberg pitches cleantech VC Chrysalix SET from Amsterdam
Ecosummit TV: Rene Savelsberg pitches Chrysalix SET at ECO13 Berlin. Rene believes that the investment focus on technologies with capital-efficient business models as well as their global expertise are the key success factors to achieve returns in the big cleantech universe. The Dutch VC is one of the few players that managed to successfully exit a portfolio company. They sold Epyon to ABB in 2011 which became the new EV fast charging business unit of the Swiss corporate. Chrysalix SET’s active portfolio includes Enocean, Alertme, Sefaira and the new investment Luxexcel, a 3D printing technology company focused on the LED industry. We are happy that Rene joined our Ecosummit Advisors and look forward to accelerating the best startups in the market.
Read moreChristopher Schlaeffer pitches Yetu from Berlin
Ecosummit TV: Christopher Schlaeffer pitches Yetu at ECO13 Berlin. The Berlin-based startup develops an open smart home platform that they license as a service to utilities and telecoms. Christopher left Deutsche Telekom to found Yetu 2 years ago because he believes that smart home is the third wave of the consumer Internet. An open platform is badly needed that connects everything with open APIs. A unique feature of Yetu’s energy management module is device recognition based on algorithms allowing the user to compare their energy consumption per device. It is too early to tell whether Christopher and his team will reach their goal of establishing as the leading smart home platform that also enables universal applications including entertainment and security. However, this startup should be on your watch list. Moreover, they are fundraising and are interested in talking to smart green investors and utilities.
Read moreDarragh Kirby pitches Carbon Control from Dublin
Ecosummit TV: Darragh Kirby pitches Carbon Control from Ireland at ECO13 Berlin. The early stage startup offers a stamp of approval for companies to communicate their being green to customers. Carbon Control wants to be the Fairtrade of product carbon footprinting by offering a simple way to communicate to consumers that a product has got a low environmental footprint and is produced by a green company. Carbon Control charges companies for evaluating their product carbon footprint on a regular basis. While the approach of a ubiquitous seal of carbon quality makes sense, it is obvious that they have a very long way to go to establish as the de facto standard. A big game for a small startup but still manageable in the eyes of the 2 co-founders from Dublin. We like fearless entrepreneurs.
Read moreRastislav Lauko pitches Greenway from Bratislava
Ecosummit TV: Rastislav Lauko pitches Greenway from Slovakia. The Bratislava-based smart green startup provides an electric mobility transport service for corporate customers. Their full-service approach uses converted transporters that get an electric motor and battery swapping system. This investment is worthwhile as the transporters travel on fixed daily routes at least 70.000 kilometers per year. Greenway’s EVs have a reach of 200 km and the battery swap takes less than 7 minutes. Bankrupt Better Place should take a look at this Eastern European startup and their very focused business strategy. As Greenway has got their first customers they now want to raise €3M to scale their business in Slovakia and prepare market entry in Austria and Czech Republic.
Read moreDavid Tronchoni pitches Edinn from Valencia
Ecosummit TV: David Tronchoni pitches Edinn from Spain at ECO13 Berlin. The Valencia-based cleantech startup provides a software and hardware solution to measure and improve the total efficiency of companies and, in particular, their manufacturing processes. David claims that Edinn’s customers are very happy as they achieve efficiency improvements of 10% in the first year. One of the customers is the Valencian winery Vicente Gandía, one of the top 15 wineries in Spain. Edinn expects revenues of €300K in 2013 and looks for investors to scale their business and develop a new product version based on cloud computing. If you believe in the economic and ecological benefits of better productivity, check out Edinn and talk to David.
Read moreFujio Kojima pitches Pirika from Tokyo
Ecosummit TV: Fujio Kojima pitches Pirika from Japan. During his trip around the world 2 years ago, Fujio discovered that there is too much trash everywhere. Back in Tokyo, he co-founded Pirika which is backed by Open Network Lab, the accelerator of Digital Garage. Pirika is a green smartphone app for iOS and Android that people use to document how they clean up the world. Up to now, more than 500.000 pieces of litter have been removed by users in 65 countries. Pirika makes money with sponsors, corporates running social engagement programmes for their employees and municipalities that want to improve the allocation of their waste management budgets. Pirika expands our perception of cleantech and won ECO13 Award Facebook Gold. Gambatte kudasai.
Read morePieter Bots pitches Geo-En that uses geothermal energy for smart green buildings
Ecosummit TV: Pieter Bots pitches Geo-En at Ecosummit Berlin 2013. The Berlin-based cleantech startup provides a near surface geothermal energy solution to heat and cool smart green buildings. Backed by eCapital, IBB and Pieter Bots himself, Geo-En finalised various new projects in Hamburg, Berlin and other cities in the first half of 2013. Geo-En’s solution is quite unique as it uses very little space and usually works with only one borehole underneath or very close to the building. The systems recently installed cost between €60K and €600K and have an amortisation period of 3 to 20 years depending on energy prices and system configuration. Now Pieter looks for new smart green investors that support Geo-En’s international expansion.
Read moreCarl Berninghausen pitches Sunfire
Ecosummit TV: Carl Berninghausen pitches Sunfire at ECO13 Berlin. The Dresden-based cleantech startup made very good progress since their first performance at ECO11 Berlin. Now they have 50 employees, most of them engineers, who aim at €5M revenues in 2013. Recently, Bilfinger Venture Capital joined as corporate VC and strategic partner for the construction and operation of new Sunfire plants. Sunfire’s core technology is a high-temperature fuel cell which can be used for power-to-gas and power-to-liquids processes. At Ecosummit Berlin, we observed Sunfire in intensive talks with more than one VC. That’s the way it should be.
Read moreJan Marckhoff pitches Ben Energy from Switzerland
Ecosummit TV: Jan Marckhoff pitches Ben Energy at ECO13 Berlin. The Swiss startup is a spin-off from ETH Zurich and already provides their customer engagement solution to 17 utilities in Switzerland, covering 25% of the Swiss market. Being financed by the founders and customers so far, Ben Energy now looks for €1.2M Series A to increase their sales team in Germany and other new territories. Ben Energy competes with Opower that raised $65M and has got 400 employees. Comparing the two startups, it’s fair to say that the really lean startup comes from Switzerland. In my personal opinion, Ben Energy is a great investment opportunity for any cleantech VC who likes fast scalable business models that are capital-light and proven in the market. Opower may be their exit channel.
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