Dominion GreenTech Incubator Hosts Five Israeli Companies as Part of Clean Tech Gateway USA Program
For Immediate Release
March 30, 2011
Ashland, Virginia – The Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator (DRGI) Commercialization Program hosted five Israeli companies as part of the Clean Tech Gateway USA Program on March 30, 2011 at their facility in Ashland, Virginia. This is a follow-up to the initial interviews which took place with over 30 Israeli companies by the Dominion Resources GreenTech Commercialization team in Tel Aviv, Israel from January 9-13, 2011. The Israeli companies are in the Richmond area for three days, from March 29-31, 2011 and have had a series of meetings with Dominion Resources technical and business experts, as well as a number of additional meetings that the DRGI has arranged for each company. The Wednesday morning presentations were open to all potential investors, technical experts, local and state officials and others who may have been able to assist the Israeli companies with U.S. market entry.
The Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB), an Office of the Governor of Virginia, together with DRGI and the Greater Richmond Partnership, has created a special program that will help post-incubator Israeli companies enter the U.S. market. Clean Tech is a rapidly growing market that requires innovation, speed to market, expert guidance from professionals in the market and the ability to scale up operations.
“The Virginia Israel Advisory Board has developed a very structured and substantive program to assist Israeli companies looking to enter U.S. markets,” said Ralph Robbins, Executive Director. “We have already demonstrated on many occasions that Virginia has much to offer Israeli companies, both early-stage, as well as established entities.”
DRGI has developed a program patterned after the successful Virginia Israeli BioScience Commercialization Center at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, which has grown into a fully integrated business development center that includes a fund of $11 million. Virginia Life Science Investments is currently working with and/or invested in nine Israeli companies.
“The experience we have had with Israeli life science companies over the past four and one-half years has been exciting and mutually rewarding”, said Robert T. Skunda, President and CEO of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park and Chairman of the Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator. “We hope to replicate that into a robust, sustaining relationship with companies, research centers and governmental organizations in Israel involved in the alternative energy and green technology sectors”.
As part of the program, the VIAB is partnering with strategic assets in Virginia that can serve as a base for Israeli GreenTech company market entry into the U.S.. The core strategic partner is Dominion Resources, a $15.1 billion leading U.S. utility. The Dominion Resources GreenTech Commercialization Center is dedicated to working with commercialization or near-commercialization ready companies to enter the U.S. market. The path of entry will take companies that already have a proof of concept, through a recognized validation stage. The Israeli companies will also receive expert advice in finance, technical matters, and management, all of which will lead to go-to-market strategies that are developed in cooperation with the Center’s partners.
“The Dominion GreenTech team who interviewed the Israeli clean technology firms in Tel Aviv earlier this year came away highly impressed with the innovative thinking and ideas on the part of Israeli entrepreneurs and engineers,” said Gary Courts, Managing Director of Alternative Energy Solutions for Dominion Resources. “We think many of these technologies will make positive advancements in alternative energy technology and applications here in the U.S. and we are looking forward to continued discussions with these five companies who have been selected to be part of the Commercialization Center’s program.”
Presenting Companies:
CQM: In power generation, large surface condensers are used to help manage steam pressure through generating turbines that employ water vapor for power generation. Historically, these condensers become fouled over time and become less efficient in serving power generation by reducing power output by up to 5%. The CQM ATCS solves this problem by mechanically (actively) ensuring the condensers stay optimally clean perpetually.
Emefcy: Emefcy’s (EBR) technology revolutionizes the economics of wastewater treatment by generating instead of consuming energy, utilizing electrogenic bacteria to produce electricity from wastewater while cleaning the water. Conventional wastewater treatment uses 2% of the global power (80,000 MW and 57,000,000 ton per year of CO2), amounting to $40B/year. Rather than using energy to treat wastewater, Emefcy harvests renewable energy directly from the wastewater and feeds it to the grid.
Greenlet: Electric utilities spend billions of dollars for reducing power in peak days. Greenlet’s installation-free system allows utilities & ESCO’s to connect to millions of customers and loads in a short time, reliably control & monitor power in peak times, without any need for professional installation (self-deployment). Customers quickly connect our units and get rebates for peak shaving. A leading US utility who tested Greenlet wrote: “I like the fact that the installation is easy. It’s by far the easiest I’ve seen so far among all Home-Area-Network vendors“.
Panoramic Power: Panoramic Power’s technology represents a new energy monitoring platform. The sales and service partner ecosystem includes architecture, electrical engineering and sustainability consulting firms; electrical and IT system integrators; Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), and demand response aggregators. Utility promotion of our systems provides financial incentives to customers. We are currently developing business relationships with potential partners. Future plans include development of software applications for various market segments, sensor family expansion and cost reduction, integration of sensor technology into infrastructure components, and OEM solutions for electrical equipment manufacturers.
Powercom Ltd : Powercom is a “Smart Metering/Smart Grid” company. The company offers (AMI) Advanced Meter Infrastructure for Electricity, Water, and Gas. PowerCom develops and produces “Smart meters”, Concentrators and powerful web server software to support its customers. The system’s intellectual property is based on a Dynamic PLC (Power Line Carrier) technology. Over the last two years, PowerCom has been successful in implementing the world’s first most advanced, reliable and secured PLC communication. The breakthrough is achieved by developing Dynamic PL communication algorithms (based on software and hardware) which allows data transmission at any grid line infrastructure. PowerCom solution is based on real time monitoring of the power line behavior and adopting its data transmission to the existing conditions.
####
About DRGI: Modeled after the Virginia Bioscience Development Center’s successful biosciences incubation program, DRGI will provide its member companies an affordable facility on the I-95 corridor, assistance with strategy and business planning, access to expertise within Dominion Resources, expert advice from business advisory boards, access to discounted professional services and introductions to sources of grant and investment capital. As the companies grow, they are expected to move to nearby locations in Hanover County, boosting the local economy. The founding partners of DRGI include: Dominion Resources, Hanover County, the Town of Ashland, the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, and the Virginia Biosciences Development Center.
About Dominion Resources: Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,600 megawatts of generation, 11,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,100 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage system with 947 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 14 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company’s website at www.dom.com
About Hanover County/Ashland, VA: Hanover County is a dynamic community within the Greater Richmond, VA region located 90 minutes south of the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. Hanover’s central, mid-Atlantic location offers seasonable climates and one-day access to more than half of the U.S. population base. A business-friendly county with competitive tax rates, Hanover also has a strategic transportation infrastructure that includes I-95 and I-295, and convenient access to I-64. The Town of Ashland, located in central Hanover County, is a community of seven square miles and 6,000 plus residents that enjoy prosperity fueled by Randolph Macon College, a growing private sector and a strong, regional economy. Ashland is a town born of the railroad and is proud of its history. Safe streets, an efficient police department and a diverse array of retail and tourist activities add quality amenities for both the residents and businesses.
About the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park: The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park is currently home to a unique mix of over 60 public and private bioscience companies, research institutes affiliated with the VCU Medical Center, and major state and national medical laboratories. These companies are housed in nine buildings totaling more than 1.1 million square feet of space, representing an employee base that exceeds 2,000. The Park’s nationally recognized biosciences business incubation program, the Virginia Biosciences Development Center (VBDC), has successfully graduated more than 40 client companies, including three publicly traded firms. VBDC’s client companies and graduates have attracted more than $400 million in equity, grant and strategic capital. The Park’s Virginia Biosciences Commercialization Center was created to assist international life sciences companies locating at the Park with commercialization activities through M&A or IPO, giving these Park’s tenants full-scale business assistance as they enter the US market. The Commercialization Center is working with 12 bioscience companies with technologies ranging from medical devices to diagnostics and therapeutics. www.vabiotech.com
About Virginia Israel Advisory Board: The Virginia Israel Advisory Board’s (VIAB) mission is to serve as the bridge for Israeli companies who want to establish and/or expand their business in the USA and locate in Virginia. We do this by opening doors using the right contacts and providing the best support to help grow their U.S. business. With Virginia’s proximity to the nation’s center of power, Washington, DC, there is easy access to the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and a vast number of other Federal agencies. With your business located in Virginia, VIAB will enable you to take advantage of the many great opportunities that exist. We will connect you to the right people — people who can help your business succeed.
Contact:
Courtney L. Skunda
Marketing and Communications Manager
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 827-2137
Email: cskunda@vabiotech.com
