- 30
- March
2015
Ines Bergmann pitches corporate venture capital provided by E.ON
Ecosummit TV: We just met Ines Bergmann at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco where she is spending 6 months scouting new innovation that can be brought to Europe. At ECO14 Berlin, Ines pitches the benefits of corporate venture capital provided by E.ON. The German utility is one of the most active corporate co-investors in smart energy startups. E.ON’s added value is rolling out the products of their portfolio companies to their 35 million customers, increasing startup revenues one market after the other. This turns out to be a very useful market entry strategy especially for US startups planning to enter Europe. E.ON’s portfolio includes Orcan Energy (ECO14 Award Bronze), Thermondo, Autogrid, Firstfuel, Sungevity, Opower and Bloom Energy. While many utilities are also working on becoming technology companies, it remains to be seen when E.ON’s CVC activities will result in the first acquisitions.
Read more- 16
- August
2014
Susana Quintana-Plaza presents the co-investment strategy of EON
Ecosummit TV: Susana Quintana-Plaza presents the co-investment strategy of EON at ECO13 London. Since 2013 the German utility has been very active as a corporate co-investor in the US and Europe having made 9 direct investments including Opower, Sungevity, Bloom Energy, Orcan Energy (ECO14 Award Bronze) and, most recently, Berlin-based heating system online retailer Thermondo. EON also made 1 fund investment into the American VC Westly Group to quickly learn the trade. With 35 million customers and revenues of €122.5B in 2013, EON co-invests with the aim of rolling out the startups’ products to their customer base to help generate new revenues. This means that startups should have a competitive product and revenues to get EON excited about a participation. The next opportunity to pitch to Susana and her team is ECO14 London on 7-8 October.
Read more- 13
- June
2014
Sonnenbatterie, Sunfire and Orcan Energy win Ecosummit Award 2014 at ECO14 Berlin
Ecosummit Berlin 2014 was so much fun. Following the sponsor dinner at our favourite Italian called Donath, we celebrated the 5th anniversary of Ecosummit Berlin on 3-4 June 2014 with 200 happy participants at the Radialsystem – Berlin’s top spot for startup conferences. The positive feedback we received is overwhelming and just more motivation to improve and grow Ecosummit even further. A highlight was the Ecosummit Award 2014. 49 nominees from 13 countries were rated by 39 judges before the conference. The 3 VC-backed smart green startups that have the highest chances for a successful exit are: Sonnenbatterie picking up Gold and €3K prize money, Sunfire receiving Silver and €2K and Orcan Energy winning Bronze and €1K. Let’s party and enjoy the first photos of ECO14 Berlin.
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