Eternal Sun raises €2M Series A from Vermec
How can you guarantee the performance of solar panels over a long period of time, let’s say 20 years? By simulating sunshine and testing the solar panels in a controlled lab environment with powerful and energy efficient lamps, e.g. Heliospectra LEDs. Chokri Mousaoui (CEO) and Stefan Roest (CTO) co-founded Eternal Sun in 2011 after they developed their first solar simulator prototype at Delft University of Technology. As their second and third prototype were already paid by pilot customers, the founders managed to reach product market fit very quickly and bootstrap their smart green startup to €1M revenues in 2014 while keeping a clean 50:50 cap table until their Series A. In July 2011, they moved into the incubator YesDelft where they are still located. The role of TU Delft and its ecosystem cannot be overestimated as 9 out of 11 employees were educated at the university. We first saw Chokri pitching in front of the Climate-KIC accelerator jury at Utrechtinc on 5 July 2012. 2 months later, we went together on the first Climate-KIC USA Startup Tour to Silicon Valley, Washington and Boston. Then Stefan came to Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 in November to look for investors.
Read moreDirk Dens pitches Govecs
Ecosummit TV: Electric mobility on 2 wheels grows a lot faster than on 4 wheels. Dirk Dens pitches Govecs at ECO13 Berlin and shows how Govecs is surfing this VC-friendly trend. The Munich-based late stage startup is backed by Gimv and makes very cool electric scooters that are manufactured in Wroclaw, Poland. Govecs makes scooters not only for consumers but also for companies, especially urban delivery services. The new trend is scooter sharing and Govecs recently started the first project together with Ecooltra in Barcelona. If Govecs continues to execute its strategy well, they may be an exit candidate rather soon.
Read moreRobert Gallenberger and Matthias Vandepitte present Gimv
Ecosummit TV: Robert Gallenberger and Matthias Vandepitte present Gimv at ECO13 Berlin. The Brussels-based VC is a listed company with €1.8B of assets under management and 90 employees in 4 offices. Recently, Gimv reorganised into 4 investment platforms of which Smart Industries and Sustainable Cities are most relevant for startups active in cleantech and resource efficiency. Gimv supported Ecosummit Berlin 2013 as sponsor and not only looked for new dealflow but also showcased the portfolio company Govecs at the conference. McPhy Energy (ECO12 Berlin) and PE International are also part of the portfolio. Gimv prefers to invest in startups with a proven business model and revenues to help them expand into new markets inside and outside of Europe.
Read moreSmart green dealflow: SolarFuel, Govecs, Tiramizoo, Sortech and Evodos
5 smart green startups that are connected to Ecosummit in various ways successfully raised new venture capital during the last months: Power to Gas pioneer SolarFuel (€7.5M, Germany), electric scooter maker Govecs (€10M, Germany), bike messenger platform Tiramizoo (undisclosed, Germany), sustainable cooling provider Sortech (undisclosed, Germany) and algae harvester Evodos (undisclosed, Netherlands). Let’s take a closer look at the products and business models of the startups and their new investors.
Read morePascal Mauberger pitches the hydrogen storage startup McPhy Energy from France
Ecosummit TV: CEO Pascal Mauberger pitches the French hydrogen storage startup at ECO12 Berlin. Founded in 2008, MyPhy Energy raised €15.2M in 2 rounds from Emertec, Sofinnova Partners and Gimv. They are now 35 people and want to grow to over 100 in a few years. McPhy’s technology is able to store large amounts of hydrogen at low pressure and enables onsite production and storage of hydrogen. If you take renewable energy as a source, you can create green hydrogen using an electrolyser from one of McPhy’s partners. McPhy Energy is on a promising growth path and if you need large-scale hydrogen storage, please get in touch with Pascal.
Read moreHansjoerg Sage pitches the cleantech VC Gimv
Ecosummit TV: Hansjoerg Sage is a Partner at Gimv and pitches the cleantech VC from Belgium at ECO12 Berlin. Gimv is around for 30 years and has €1.8B under management of which 30% is venture capital. Hansjoerg points out that cleantech investing is about solving very big problems and is driven by fundamental trends such as climate change, energy supply security, urbanisation, scarcity of resources and environmental concerns that will be a top human priority for the next couple of decades. However, cleantech investments have a particular risk return profile that needs to be managed.
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