New appointment at E-Synergy
Industrifonden hires new managers
Emerald Technology Ventures invests in microfiltration
Oxford Capital Partners backs waste-to-energy project
The Alternative Energy Company scoops £200,000 from YFM
Austrian bioenergy business receives EUR 6.7m in funding
HgCapital acquires pair of wind developers
Syndicate acquires biofuel business
Tesla MotorsFirst published in Cleantech magazine, June/July 2007. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd, 2007
New appointment at E-Synergy
UK-based private equity firm ESynergy has hired former Noble Fund Manager Sam Richardson as investment director to its fundraising team. Richardson is the new manager of Sustainable Technology Fund, a £30m fund launched in March this year. He will be in charge of sourcing companies focused on the development of clean industrial processes and on identifying UK-based entrepreneurs working within that segment.
Industrifonden hires new managers
Swedish venture house Industrifonden has appointed two new investment managers. Stefan Jakelius, formerly head of seed financing at Sweden’s Energy Agency, will be in charge of investments in cleantech ventures. Tore Tolke, another newcomer, will work in expansion financing in industrial ventures. Previously, Tolke worked as an investment manager at venture capital firm Småföretagsinvest.
Emerald Technology Ventures invests in microfiltration
Following the end of its fundraising period, Emerald Technology Ventures has completed a EUR 6.4m financing round in fluXXion, a microfiltration technology company based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The round was syndicated with other backers including Capricorn Cleantech Fund and WHEB Ventures. It is understood that existing investor Philips Electronics has also taken part in the transaction. fluXXion designs, assembles and sells micro filtration modules, which provide a significant improvement in liquid bulk filtration. Gianni Operto of Emerald coordinated the financing round.
Oxford Capital Partners backs waste-to-energy project
Oxford Capital Partners (OCP) has led a follow-on financing round of £2.5m to Inetec Ltd, a developer of waste-to-renewable-energy projects focused on the industrial food manufacturing sector. The round was syndicated with existing backers Finance Wales and other new investors. UK-based OCP had previously provided the company with financing of £722,000, alongside Finance Wales and Foursome Investments. Inetec utilises its in-house technology to convert industrial food waste into a stable biomass fuel, which can then be converted into gas and combusted in a combined heat and power plant (CHP). This is used to produce heat for industry and renewable electricity for the grid. The funding will go towards the construction of the first food wasteto-renewable-energy power station in the UK, which aims to divert up to 180,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill and generate 24MW of green energy. The plant will be located in North East Lincolnshire.
The Alternative Energy Company scoops £200,000 from YFM
YFM Group has provided an expansion capital package worth £200,000 to UK-based The Alternative Energy Company Ltd. In addition to YFM’s backing, made via the firm’s Yorkshire and Humber Equity Fund, the company has received a further £50,000 from a business angel. The Alternative Energy Company supplies and installs renewable energy production and conversion equipment. The company’s portfolio includes wind turbines and energy inverters which convert energy stored in low voltage batteries to mains voltage.
Austrian bioenergy business receives EUR 6.7m in funding
3TS Capital Partners and Ventaac Beteiligungs- und Unternehmensberatung GmbH have provided funding of EUR 4.3 and 2.4m respectively to Austrian bioenergy company Cycleenergy. The company offers decentralised, renewable rural heat and electricity supply solutions and will use the capital to further develop its biomass and biogas power plant activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
HgCapital acquires pair of wind developers
Via its dedicated renewable energy fund, Hg Renewable Power Partners, private equity firm HgCapital has purchased a stake in UK-based wind developer RidgeWind Ltd. Following the acquisition of a majority stake in the company, the firm has committed to provide expansion capital and longterm equity for the company’s wind development pipeline. RidgeWind’s portfolio includes the 16 MW Bagmoor Wind Farm in Lincolnshire, set up as a partnership with Wind Prospect, which will start construction later this year.
Separately, HgCapital has acquired a majority shareholding of Wind Prospect's interest in the Bagmoor project. The UK acquisition was then followed by HgCapital’s purchase of four wind farms in the French region of Picardie. The deal is valued at EUR 69m and was structured as a joint venture whereby the vendor, German energy sector player Enertrag, which developed the turbines used in the farm, has agreed to build the site. Long-term loans and acquisition finance were provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Syndicate acquires biofuel business
KMW Energi AB A group of investors comprising CapMan, SEB Venture Capital and Aloe Private Equity have purchased a joint stake of 80% in Swedish biofuel player KMW Energi. The remainder will be held by the company’s current owners. Although it was established in 1958, it was only in 2001 that KMW Energi started to focus on the development of combined heat and power (CHP) plants. These plants produce mechanical power by a heat engine, which transforms thermal energy from the bio fuel combustion into rotational energy. The company’s current turnover is EUR 21.6m; it is mainly focused on commercialising its plants in Sweden, with Finland and Norway as its secondary markets.
Tesla Motors
California based electric car manufacturer, Tesla Motors, completed a $45m round of financing in May. The Series D investment round was co-led by Technology Partners and Elon Musk (the founder of PayPal and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies). Capricorn Investment Group also made a significant contribution. Ira Ehrenpreis, the leader of Technology Partners’ Cleantech investment practice, has joined the Telsa Motors management board. Previous investors in Tesla have included Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Vantage Point Venture Partners; Draper Fisher Jurvetson; JP Morgan Bay Area Equity Fund; Valor Equity Partners and Compass Venture Partners. All of the major investors participated in the latest financing round. The funds raised will be used for the development of White Star, an electric passenger sports sedan which is scheduled to be introduced in 2010.
The Tesla Roadster is due to start shipping in the autumn. The engineering team is based in Silicon Valley but the car is being assembled on the Lotus Elise production line in the UK. The Roadster has a carbon-fibre body, like the Elise. The battery, which can reportedly be recharged in around three hours, has a range of 250 miles. There is reportedly a waiting list of over 400 for the cars, which will initially be available only in the US at a price of $100,000. |
