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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A Review of Israel Ministry of Finance SRI Position Paper

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Last week, I received an email from the Israeli Ministry of Finance of great significance. The email announced the publishing of a policy paper by a division within the Ministry to consider the implications of Socially Responsible Investing. This email quietly has the potential to change the way Israeli society views the capital markets. Currently the capital markets are viewed by Israelis as the unbridled ability to maximize profits with little concern for society’s well being or ethical standards. Little debate has taken place on this topic and sadly many efforts to raise the topic has resulted in the hijacking of the debate by corporate interests rather than an open balanced debate by all sectors of the Israeli public. I propose that people who have any concern for the well being of Israeli society ought to turn their attention to SRI as a tool for moderating values in Israeli society. As this paper proposes, having legislation enacted that allow ethical and moral considerations to be considered by a fund manager is the foundation on which our society’s economy shall reflect our desire for a just and good society. Without this legislative foundation we are very close to economic anarchy.

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