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- December
2014
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.
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- August
2014
Rolf Adam of Cisco talks about new business models for public lighting by making it intelligent
Ecosummit TV: Smart green cities need intelligent lighting. At ECO13 London, Rolf Adam of Cisco talks about new business models for public lighting by making it intelligent. IP-based lighting infrastructure reduces OPEX by remotely managing and metering a large network of street lamps. When cities and utilities plan to upgrade public lighting to energy-efficient LEDs, they should also think about new business models that are enabled by the internet, sensors and smart algorithms. For example, the Dutch startup Tvilight implemented the brilliant idea of light-on-demand with the help of sensors that detect nearby users. If there aren’t any people or cars present, the street lights are dimmed and energy is saved. The street lights of the 21st century may be used for wireless internet access, location-based advertising, traffic control, street parking, measuring air quality and, last but not least, charging electric vehicles as promoted by Berlin-based Ubitricity. The more services you want to integrate, the more service providers you have to bring together to make money with smart lighting.
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- August
2014
Richard van de Vrie pitches Luxexcel and its 3D optics printing technology
Ecosummit TV: Richard van de Vrie pitches Luxexcel at ECO13 London. The resource efficient Dutch startup invented a new 3D printing technology for optics and lenses that reduces the development time and cost of new LED lights and other optical products. Now it is possible to develop new luminaires in days rather than months, a significant cost reduction potential for LED manufacturers that typically develop 75 products per year. Luxexcel is backed by Chrysalix SET in Amsterdam and Munich Venture Partners, patented its printoptical technology and has got revenues. It will be exciting to watch this company grow and take its limitless 3D printing technology to new markets and industries.
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- February
2013
Smart green dealflow: Sunfire, Greenergetic, Sonnenbatterie, LEDeXCHANGE, Valopaa and Friedola Tech
6 smart green startups successfully raised new venture capital recently: Power to gas and fuel startup Sunfire (seven-figure, Germany), PV online retailer Greenergetic (undisclosed seed, Germany), residential storage provider Sonnenbatterie (undisclosed, Germany), retrofit LED provider LEDeXCHANGE (€500K seed, Germany), LED lighting company Valopaa (€2M, Finland) and recycled plastics manufacturer Friedola Tech (€31M, Germany). The active cleantech VCs include Bilfinger Venture Capital, eCapital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, VNT Management, Silver Lake Kraftwerk and Kleiner Perkins.
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- November
2011
Smart Green Dealflow: HTGF, Better Place, Epyon, Heliospectra, Tiramizoo, Compositence, Novaled and Proterra
Finally, I find a bit of time to highlight some recent investment deals in our smart green ecosystem. We plan to write our Smart Green Dealflow more often, so please keep sending us your cleantech deal press releases. This time we cover High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Better Place, Epyon, Heliospectra, Tiramizoo, Compositence, Novaled and Proterra. These companies all work on the future of mobility and LED.
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- July
2011
Staffan Hillberg pitches Greenhouse LED startup Heliospectra
Staffan Hillberg, CEO of Heliospectra, pitches his Swedish smart green startup to investors at ECO11. Heliospectra has some really cool and healthy LED lighting technology for greenhouses improving the growth and reducing the energy costs for the sake of energy efficient agriculture. If you are into (vertical) urban farming and the future of greenhouses, get in touch with Heliospectra.
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- January
2011
Bright Future for Green Photonics
Our energy and climate crisis raises many questions about the viability of future products and services. They must take into account society’s needs, energy challenges and sustainability concerns. Green Photonics has promising potential to be smart, green and social at the same time. Are we just one step away from the Photon Century?
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