Israel Cleantech Ventures Announces Close of Its Second Fund

HAKFAR HAYAROK, Israel, January 30, 2013-- Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV) today announced the final closing of its second fund with just above $74 million in commitments. Having raised its debut fund in 2007, ICV now has approximately $150 million under management.

ICV’s second fund has attracted an impressive list of new limited partners, including institutional investors, multi-national corporations and family offices. Many of its existing LPs also re-upped from the previous fund.

The fund is managed by partners Jack Levy, Meir Ukeles and Glen Schwaber working together with a team of venture partners - all industry veterans - led by Arnon Goldfarb, with nearly two decades of experience at Israel Chemicals and five years as CEO of a leading water infrastructure company. This very same team has been together since ICV was established and has provided consistently stable fund management.

The firm will continue its strategy of investing in Israeli based or Israel related high growth, clean technology, early and growth stage companies. To date, it has invested in 15 companies and seeks opportunities across diverse cleantech sectors including clean materials, wastewater treatment, alternative energy generation, energy storage & efficiency, green building, smart grid, process efficiency technologies and sustainable agriculture.

“With the successful raising of our second fund, ICV has further solidified its position as Israel’s leading specialist cleantech fund and we are able to take advantage of the ever-strengthening cleantech dealflow emanating from this country,” said Glen Schwaber, general partner of Israel Cleantech Ventures. “Our goal is to see all the relevant deal flow in Israel and to seek out the strongest entrepreneurs, with great technology, innovative business models and high-growth market opportunities. We will continue our strategy of working closely with our entrepreneurs to provide the support necessary and to add value, from the time we invest through the life of the company.”

Meir Ukeles, co-founder and general partner continued; “Our expanded and diversified investor base in ICV II reflects our strong market presence, with investors seeking a trusted partner to look at the innovation coming out of Israel’s cleantech sector and its potential to meet global market demands and current technological challenges. When we first started out in 2006, our database held approximately 120 companies mostly in seed and early stage and there was effectively no VC money available for cleantech in Israel. Fast forward to today and dozens of global funds have invested in approximately 150 deals in Israel and our database now holds over 1,300 opportunities. We look forward to building a strong portfolio for our second fund in the coming years.”

Rob Day, Partner at Black Coral Capital, an investor in both ICV funds stated; “Cleantech venture capital has legitimately taken some hard knocks over the past few years. For ICV to successfully raise a second fund in this environment is a testament to the ultimate promise of their portfolio and the strength of their team. Our current energy/resource scheme is unsustainable. Entrepreneurs smart enough to develop solutions to solve this problem and venture capitalists smart and risk-loving enough to back them will end up making phenomenal financial returns. We believe ICV is exceptionally well-placed to capitalize on the Israeli cleantech opportunity.”

About Israel Cleantech Ventures

Established in 2006, Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV) is the leading venture capital firm dedicated to providing value added growth capital to exceptional entrepreneurs building Israel's energy, water and environmental technology leaders. ICV currently manages $150M in two funds, has completed 15 investments and seeks opportunities across diverse cleantech sectors, including clean materials, wastewater treatment, alternative energy generation, energy storage & efficiency, green building, smart grid, process efficiency technologies, sustainable agriculture and in technologies that enable existing industries to work in a more efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

ICV’s investment professionals combine industry expertise gained through decades in senior management positions at Israel’s outstanding cleantech companies, with proven abilities in identifying, investing in and supporting VC-backed companies.

ICV funds are backed by leading institutional investors, multi-national corporations and family offices in Europe, the US and Israel.

For more information, please visit www.israelcleantech.com

Contact:
Israel Cleantech Ventures
Melanie Braunold
Director of Investor Relations
Email: melanie@israelcleantech.com
Tel: +972-54-7766454

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