Intel Capital Announces Five Cleantech Investments

Reinforces Commitment to Accelerate Adoption of Energy Efficiency Technologies

SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, 2009 – Today at the Technology Innovation Summit, Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's global investment organization, reaffirmed its dedication to foster clean technology innovation with the announcement of five cleantech investments. The deals, which total approximately $10 million and span two continents, include first-time investment in U.S.-based CPower (demand response and energy efficiency) as well as follow-on investments in Ireland-based Powervation (digital power control) and U.S.-based companies Convey Computer (energy efficient high performance computing), Grid Net (smart meter infrastructure) and iControl (home automation and monitoring).

"Intel Capital has made a significant commitment to invest in the cleantech sector in recognition of the increasing need for alternative energy production and advanced energy management and utilization solutions," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. "The global nature of these five investments demonstrates our focus on accelerating cleantech innovation, emphasizing Intel Capital's unique strength as a global, stage agnostic investor."


"These investments share synergies focused on accelerating adoption of Smart Grid technologies, fostering energy efficiency and performance in ways that benefit consumers of electricity and power utilities as well as complement Intel's strategic objectives," said Steve Eichenlaub, managing director of platform technologies, cleantech and digital health, Intel Capital. "Each investment underlies Intel Capital's commitment to invest in cutting edge technologies and support our expanding portfolio of cleantech-related companies."

Details on the five new investments include:
CPower (New York) delivers targeted energy management services and solutions that enable companies to optimize their facilities and operations through energy reduction initiatives and earn market payments for those reductions. As an industry pioneer that has grown into one of the largest energy management and demand response firms in North America, CPower combines an understanding of energy management technologies, energy markets and the daily challenges of facility operators to maximize the value of energy sustainability. This is Intel Capital's initial funding of CPower.
Grid Net (San Francisco) is a pioneer in providing the network operating system and management control plane for the Smart Grid. PolicyNet*, Grid Net's standards-based management platform for all networked transmission, distribution and generation smart grid devices, provides cost-effective rapid deployment and management that leverages 4G broadband networks. Grid Net's Series C funding round includes Intel Capital's third investment.

Powervation (Limerick, Ireland) provides digital power controllers for server, desktop computing and communications platforms that deliver capabilities in automatic configuration and self stabilization. These devices speed design time and enable system stability as other power supply components age, leading to higher energy efficiency at the system level, faster time-to-market and lower overall system costs. Intel Capital co-led Powervation's Series A funding round and this is its second investment in the company.

Convey Computer (Richardson, Texas) offers high-performance computing (HPC) solutions which aim to dramatically reduce energy consumption and boost performance. Convey's HC-1* solution tightly integrates advanced existing off-the-shelf hardware – namely an Intel® Xeon® processor and Field Programmable Gate Arrays – with compiler technology that minimizes the programming challenges that have long withheld the potential of reconfigurable hardware. Convey's Series B funding round includes the second investment by Intel Capital.

iControl (Palo Alto, Calif.) provides an IP-based platform that delivers monitored home security, remote home monitoring and home and energy management capabilities to security and broadband providers, enabling them to deliver enhanced, value-added services to their new and existing customers. iControl's Series C funding round includes a follow-on investment by Intel Capital.
Intel Capital is focused on actively seeking and structuring investments in companies worldwide that are producing products and services in a variety of "green" areas such as energy efficiency, alternative power generation and storage, transportation and materials, with particular emphasis in support of Intel's Open Energy Initiative, helping foster standards-based, interoperable solutions.

These five investments all support efforts within Intel to drive energy-efficient performance across Intel's value chain. Intel Capital invested in and works with CPower, Grid Net and iControl as part of its Smart Energy efforts that focus on utilizing Intel® Architecture solutions and industry standards to improve performance, speed deployment and enhance security in large-scale deployments. Intel supports Powervation as part of its relentless efforts to improve the performance per watt of Intel Architecture platforms across multiple user segments. Additionally, Convey Computer complements Intel's HPC efforts, distinctively augmenting Intel Architecture platforms to further boost both performance and energy efficiency across multiple target industries such as energy, transportation, financial services and healthcare.

Cleantech Group Comes To India; Vinod Khosla, Chair, Jaswinder Kaur, Country Director - sas VC Circle

VC Circle says:

The Cleantech Group, which is a network of investors and companies in the cleantech industry, has set up shop in India. So far it had only presence in North America, China and Europe. Leading venture capitalist Vinod Khosla will serve as Chair and Jaswinder Kaur, executive director of the Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) in Delhi, will be the Country Director of the Indian arm of the group.

Cleantech Group was earlier known as Cleantech Venture Network, which “defined and introduced cleantech as an investment category in 2002. It has some 8,000 cleantech investors, 9,500 companies and professional services organisations worldwide and a core group of 1,300 members with assets exceeding $6 trillion. They include venture capital firms, investment banks, limited partners, governments and major corporations via offices in North America, Europe, China and India. Read the full articl at VC Circle Cleantech Group Comes To India; Vinod Khosla, Chair, Jaswinder Kaur, Country Director

IBM Joins Sony, Nokia in Sharing Ecological Patents

International Business Machines Corp., the leading recipient of U.S. patents, is joining Sony Corp., Nokia Oyj and Pitney Bowes Inc. in offering the rights to environmentally friendly technologies for free.

The effort, called the Eco-Patent Commons, is designed to help companies save energy and water and curb pollution, Armonk, New York-based IBM said today in a joint statement with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in Geneva.

Companies are taking steps to show they're fighting global warming and promoting sustainable development. The Eco-Patent Commons is the first forum for sharing intellectual property with environmental uses. Click to read the full article at Bloomberg

The Carbon Calculus

NY Times published a nice acrticle on the impact of charging companies for their carbon footprints, and price points for carbon at which alternative energy sources would become a more viable option. Many alternative energy sources such as Wind and solar would become more economical and so wouldseveral carbon-neutral fuels such as ethanol and synthesisgas. Here's the link.

Waste Management Investments in India

UTI Ventures invested Rs 32 Crore in Waste Management firm PESCO BEAM

VC Circle Reports:

The company is involved in the ‘waste management’ (waste oil recycling and recovery) and alternate energy systems. This is a proprietary deal sourced by UTI Ventures, as in no intermediaries are involved. S N Rajesh, Director, will represent UTI Ventures on the Board of PESCO BEAM.

PESCO BEAM is one of the leading manufacturers of turnkey skid mounted waste recovery and recycling plants, a release said. It has developed technologies in various environmental fields primarily in areas of waste management and alternate fuels. It is involved in the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of equipment sub systems as well as complete turnkey plants for both waste management and the alternative fuels industry. It has customer across the globe. The company’s order book is worth $200 million.

PESCO BEAM was co-founded by Luke Staengl and A Subramaniam, both veterans in the process equipment industry. The company operates out of offices and manufacturing facilities in Virginia (USA) and Chennai (India).
Raja Kumar, CEO and M.D, UTI Ventures, said PESCO BEAM will be their fifth investment relating to alternative energy. They have invested earlier in Naturol bio energy, Shriram EPC, IND Barath Power and Shree Renuka Sugars.



Here's a link to the Social voices raised in India on waste managment

US Energy Bill Update: Will Renewables Be a Part of the Political Landscape?

[RenewableEnergyAccess.com] After much concern about whether or not key provisions for renewable energy will be a part of this year's energy bill, it appears that tax incentives and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) are still options on the table, according to industry sources in contact with staffers working on the legislation. Click to read the story.

Here's a little background: U.S. Energy Bill -- Early Christmas Present or Lump of Coal?

Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC

Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC
The recovering politician is teaming with a legendary venture capitalist and bigtime moneyman to make over the $6 trillion global energy business. A Fortune exclusive>

Also Kleiner Perkins To Zero In On Solar, Distributed Generation Space In India

Clean Tech -- the next big thing??

A number of investments is happening in India and the USA in companies providing clean technologies. This is one of the sectors that look promising.

Here's a recent deal: Indivision picks up 33% in Regen

Indivision, Future Capital’s private equity arm, is going cleantech. It has bought 33 per cent stake in Chennai-based wind turbine manufacturer, Regen Powertech, for $25 million, reports Business Standard. Regen has an exclusive licensee for technology know-how from Germany’s Vensys. The company plans to use the proceeds to set up a manufacturing facility to produce gearless turbines at Tada, Andhra Pradesh.
Regen was started by Madhusudan Khemka and R Sundaresh, who were earlier with the Khemka family-backed wind turbine manufacturer NEPC Micon.

Updated: Also, see this interview Clean Energy Is Going To Be Critical For India Too”: Luis Miranda (President and CEO, IDFC Private Equity)
Here are links to some good resources that will save you time:

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/home
Renewable Energy Access is great for searching companies and getting news. You can search by specific geographies, technology, etc.

Clean tech Investing
Cleantech VC Blog also includes more links to great articles.

http://www.cleanedge.com
Clean Edge is run by Joel Makower.

MORE:

For solar news, Solarbuzz is good, and you could probably subscribe to their newsletter:
www.solarbuzz.com

For good fuel cells primers, not necessarily deal news:
http://www.fuelcellstoday.com/

Joel Makower's Two Steps Forward is a wonderful blog on sustainability in business. Balanced analysis that recognizes the realities of the business world.
http://makower.typepad.com/

Biofuels:
http://www.biofuelsjournal.com/index.html

American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org/