Investment in Israel’s Pythagoras Solar Marks Turning Point for Cleantech

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Over the past twelve months there have been several Israeli Cleantech deals, however the recent $10M investment in Israel’s Pythagros Solar marks a landmark in the Israeli Cleantech investment arena. Several characteristics of this investment and company are indications of this:

1. Size: The size of the deal is significant enough to demonstrate a major commitment of local VCs to Cleantech. Some of Israel’s leading VC firms are involved in this investment, including Israel Cleantech Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners.

2. Management: The management team is made up of experienced entrepreneurs from leading Israeli hi-tech companies, like Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd.

3. Technology: The science on which the company’s technology is based has received international recognition from Scientific American as one of the top 50 most significant science breakthroughs in 2007.

4. Multi-disciplinary approach: The company seems to be taking an integrated approach, combining various disciplines such as optic design, semiconductor processes, materials science, and mass manufacturing techniques to come up with a solution rather than one product.

With energy crises riddling the world from South Africa and Brazil to Europe and the US, there are many opportunities for companies such as Pythagoras Solar and Infinia Corporation - who recently raised $50M - to achieve massive scale.

The word out on the street is unclear: some say solar is over crowded and valuations are sky high,while others say that solar is the one area that has been historically under-invested and has the most potential for major gains in efficiency and to compete with conventional energy sources, so that the current valuations are still quite reasonable. Time will only tell who is right.

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