Building a greener world

That the collective global conscience is getting greener is not in doubt. Where the business and investment opportunities lie is slightly more nebulous.

Companies are moving, either unilaterally or under regulatory pressure, to a more environmentally-friendly stance and this undoubtedly creates opportunities for cleantech entrepreneurs. But it is likely to be the end consumer who ultimately makes or breaks new products coming to the market.

At the moment, marketing efforts are directing householders to hybrid cars, solar heating, wind turbines and soil roofs. This approach focuses on the householder with a roomy house and some land to play with. But the whole premise is badly flawed, argues Christopher Choa, a director of EDAW, a San Francisco-based design company involved in the London 2012 Olympics project.

A free-standing house, even equipped with every environmental accoutrement available, still has 200 Amps running through it. It has six surfaces to heat or cool and this is highly inefficient, said Mr Choa, a speaker at last week’s Essential Cleantech conference in London.

By contrast, living in an apartment block can mean having four of those surfaces shared with neighbours, providing a significant level of heat transfer. Since many modern cities have mixed use areas, reducing the need for transportation, and much closer amenities than in the countryside, it can be seen that high-rise living is more environmentally friendly than any country residence could ever be. In fact, Mr Choa controversially asserts, Manhattan is the greenest community on earth.

This amazing claim, if true, has profound implications for the future of cleantech. If governments accept the premise that density is a good thing and act to encourage more urban development, investment opportunities could lie at the edges of the current spectrum. Fuel systems for private cars could be secondary to technology and energy sources for mass transport. Building construction and technology techniques could also be at a premium. Mr Choa’s personal tip is to invest in firms producing microprocessors that enable lifts to operate more efficiently.

We should probably be a little cautious about an urban designer extolling the virtues of urbanisation, but there is a ring of truth about the density theory that makes it one to watch.

The Week's Deals

Twenty-three companies gained venture funding this week, nine were of undisclosed value. The deals raised a total of €154.9m, which is €11.1m on average.

Cordys, the Netherlands-based provider of business process management suite (BPMS) enterprise software, has raised €60m in one of Europe’s largest venture capital deals this year. Argonaut Private Equity led the round with an investment of $67m, giving it a significant minority stake in the company. Jan Baan, founder and majority shareholder, also participated. The global BPMS market is predicted by Gartner Dataquest to be worth $1bn by the end of 2007, growing to $2.6bn by 2011. Cordys will use the funding to expand its US operations.

Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, the Germany-based cancer antibody company, has
closed a series C financing round totaling €33.7m from Future Capital, Ingro Finanz, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg KfW Mittelstandsbank, MIG Funds, Nextech Venture, ONC Partners, VI Partners, Varuma and private investors. Ganymed is developing monoclonal antibody therapeutics against solid tumors and will use the funds to allow it to transition to a clinical stage company by mid-2008.

ROK Entertainment, the UK-based mobile entertainment company, has raised $7m (€5.2m) from an undisclosed European institutional investor ahead of a planned IPO later this year. ROK specialises in providing on-demand mobile TV over mobile and wifi networks. The company has commissioned a full-length made-for-mobile movie, Kung Fusion, designed to be viewed in its entirety, or in three-minute chunks. ROK believes that alongside live news and sports events, the future of mobile TV lies largely with the provision of instantly-engaging made-for-mobile content rather than full-form TV.

Xeround Systems, the Israel-based developer of subscriber-centric real-time database products for large-scale telecommunications providers, has raised $7m (€5.2m) from Benchmark Capital and Giza Venture Capital according to Globes Online. Xeround’s products are designed to meet the technical and financial challenges facing service providers as they introduce next-generation IP-multimedia subsystem architecture.

Elsewhere, Brandalley, the France-based online fashion outlet, raised €5m from A Plus Finance, Banexi Ventures Partners and CDC Entreprises; Imbera Electronics, the Finland-based developer of integrated module board technology, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Conor Venture Partners, Northzone Ventures and Index Ventures; and Sparus Software, the France-based developer of software that allows enterprises to deploy and manage mobile handheld devices over wireless networks, raised €3m from AXA Private Equity and Crédit Agricole Private Equity.

See below for a complete list of deal headlines.

Did we miss anything? If you think we have missed a deal or know of a deal that is about to close then send us your deal news.

The Week's Exits

Google has purchased the video conferencing software of Sweden-based Marratech, and hired the engineers involved with its development. Google said that it initially plans to use the software internally, as a tool for its employees, although declined to reveal whether it might later try to market the technology or integrate it into one of its commercial products.

Aim-listed payment service provider Datacash Group has terminated its proposed acquisition of Sweden-based rival NetGiro for €10.25m, saying that NetGiro has breached the share purchase agreement. Datacash intends to take legal action against NetGiro to seek damages as a result of the breaches.

Quintus, the UK-based sports and entertainment company, has been acquired by IMG International for an undisclosed sum. IMG says it will use its network of international offices to develop Quintus' proprietary events around the world. Under the terms of the deal Quintus chief executive Peter Worth, one of the company's founders, will return to IMG. He joined the company in the 1970s and during the 11 years he worked there headed its European sponsorship sales division.

People Moves

Transmode, the Sweden-based provider of optical networking products, has appointed Karl Thedéen as chief executive. Mr Thedéen, most recently a vice president at Ericsson, takes over from Rune Hurtig, who had been acting chief executive since August 2005. Mr Rune will continue in his role as chairman of the board.

TranSic, the-Sweden-based developer and manufacturer of silicon carbide power transistors, has appointed Jan Tufvesson as chairman. Mr Tufvesson is an electronic engineer from Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology, from which TranSiC was spun out in 2005.

Rapid Mobile Media, the UK-based mobile advertising software company, has revealed that Kevin Sangeelee has left his position as chief technology officer.

Most Accessed Companies

m-spatial, the UK-based mobile local search company, has attracted a lot of attention this week. The company has developed technology that connects consumers to local information via mobile devices, and is deployed by mobile operators and directory providers across Europe, including Orange, O2 and Seat Pagine Gialle, the Italian directory provider. Investors in the company include Alta Berkeley, Delta Partners and Esprit Capital Partners.

Genova, the Israel-based developer of biomass power-generation units, has also received a lot of attention recently. The company’s generators are designed to be compact in size to allow them to be placed and used where waste biomass is created, such as near olive oil processing plants, paper mills, and wineries. Earlier this year, the company raised funds to set up its first pilot to produce electricity using pulp at an oil press in Julis, Israel.

Other companies generating interest recently include Cambridge Broadband Networks, Hotxt, and Bionas.