April 29, 2013, Stuttgart (Germany) - SolarFuel GmbH has changed its name. From now on, the Stuttgart-based plant manufacturer acts as ETOGAS GmbH. The new company name is designed to provide a better reflection of the company’s activities.

April 22, 2013, San Francisco (US) - BuildingIQ, a leading energy management software company, today announced that it has been named winner of the 2013 Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award, produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Selected for its cloud-based predictive energy optimization technology, BuildingIQ's software reduces HVAC energy use in commercial buildings by as much as 25 percent by monitoring and adjusting the system based on variables such as weather, occupancy, demand response signals and utility tariffs. Chosen from hundreds of companies, BuildingIQ's energy management software was among Bloomberg's top global innovations this year. BuildingIQ was recognized on stage at the sixth annual Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York City. [Read more]

April 11, 2013, Grenoble (France) and Dallas (Texas) - Tronics’ traditional high performance inertial MEMS manufacturing business expanded significantly in both Europe and Asia. This growth was driven not only by the better economic conditions, but also by Tronics’ growing reputation as a key player in the field.

April 6, 2013, Paris (France) - Solairedirect et Schneider Electric ont mis en service un double parc solaire de 15 MW à Pokoran dans l'Etat du Rajasthan (Inde). Cette réalisation illustre la capacité d'entreprises françaises à travailler en équipe pour mettre en oeuvre des projets exemplaires dans les régions les plus prometteuses du monde. [Read more]

April 4, 2013, Jiashan (Chine) - ReneSola, a leading global manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and wafers, today announced that it has signed a toll manufacturing agreement with Solairedirect, a global pioneer of competitive solar power, to produce 120 megawatts of solar modules in South Africa. [Read more]
 

March 28, 2013, Rueil-Malmaison (France) - Lucibel, le spécialiste français de l’éclairage LED, annonce l’acquisition de 100% des titres de la société Cordel. Fondée en 1996, Cordel est la seule entreprise européenne spécialisée dans l’éclairage des points de vente. La société occupe une place de leader sur ce segment de marché en France. Avec cette acquisition, Lucibel place le « shop lighting » au cœur de sa stratégie de développement.
 

March 22, 2013, Varages (France) - La Caisse des Dépôts, la commune de Varages et Solairedirect inaugurent aujourd'hui les deux parcs solaires de Varages. [Read more]
 

March 21, 2013, Rueil-Malmaison (France) - La  société  Lucibel,  fondée  en  2008  et  spécialisée  dans  la  conception  et  la commercialisation  de solutions  d’éclairage  LED  (Light  Emitting  Diod)  en  France  et  à  l’international,  annonce  avoir  clôturé avec  succès  une nouvelle augmentation  de capital.  Le  montant  des  souscriptions  a  été  arrêté  à 4,6 M€, excédant  de  15%  l’objectif  initial  de  4,0  M€.  De  nombreuses  demandes  de  souscriptions  n’ont ainsi pu être satisfaites.
 

February 25, 2013, Paris (France) - FibeRio, the developer and manufacturer of ground breaking Forcespinning^® nanofiber production systems today announced it has completed a $13M capital raise led by two global strategic investors – SABIC Ventures B.V., Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s corporate venture capital arm, and Aster Capital Partners, sponsored by Solvay, Schneider Electric, Alstom and the European Investment Fund. The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s commercial growth, introduce larger scale production systems to the market and execute on a growing pipeline of orders and global opportunities with industry leading customers.

February 12, 2013, Paris (France) - Aster Capital, the European venture capital firm sponsored by Alstom, Solvay, Schneider Electric, and the European Investment Fund, announced today a USD 3 million investment in Atlantium Technologies LTD, the Israeli world-leader in UltraViolet (UV) water treatment systems. This investment is part of a USD 9 million financing round which includes Aeris Capital A.G. (Switzerland) along with the current investor Mr Benjamin Kahn. Atlantium will use the proceeds of this financing round to accelerate the development of its new product focusing on the Ballast Water treatment and to step up market development in Power Generation, Advanced Oxidation – a process for removing biologically toxic or non-degradable materials – as well as in upstream Oil & Gas where a huge market opportunity is emerging in the treatment of water-flows associated with shale-gas exploration.

February 12, 2013, Paris (France) - EnerSys, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, and Ioxus Inc., a leading manufacturer of premium performance ultracapacitor technology for transportation, alternative energy, medical, industrial and consumer product markets, have entered a joint product development and marketing agreement. [Read more]

February 7, 2013, Grenoble (France) - Early in their partnership, Tronics developed reliable production processes based on CEA-Leti SOI MEMS technology and established a solid MEMS supply chain that continues to be profitable today. Building on that success, Tronics recently launched a new large-scale project to industrialize CEA-Leti’s breakthrough M&NEMS (Micro and Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology. This technology is based on piezoresistive nanowires rather than pure capacitive detection, and is poised to be a real leap forward in terms of device performance and chip size. This project, which is solidly funded and well underway, sets the stage for a new generation of combo sensors for motion sensing applications.

February 7, 2013, Rueil-Malmaison (France) - Chez Lucibel, tous les salariés mais aussi les partenaires (avocat, agence de communication) sont associés au capital. Pour lever des fonds, Frédéric Granotier a toujours privilégié le «friend & family» et les entrepreneurs physiques. Ce n'est qu'au deuxième trimestre 2012 qu'il a signé avec Aster Capital, un fonds d'investissement créé par Schneider Electric.

February 1, 2013, Paris (France) – De jeunes pousses à la pointe de la technologie savent transformer le marc de café... en bûches pour nos cheminées! D'autres fiabilisent la production des énergies renouvelables grâce au stockage sous forme de méthane ou d'hydrogène solide.

January 31, 2013, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) – Avantium announced the appointment of Jonathan Wolfson to its Supervisory Board. Jonathan Wolfson is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Solazyme. Solazyme is a leading industrial biotechnology company producing renewable oil and bioproducts from microalgae for fuels, chemicals, nutrition and personal care products. Solazyme (SZYM) is a US stock listed company at NASDAQ. Mr. Wolfson and Solazyme have received numerous awards for their technology pioneering role in the industrial biotechnology industry. Mr. Wolfson holds J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the NYU School of Law and the NYU Stern School of Business.

January 25, 2013, Stuttgart (Germany) – Audi is building a plant that will use solar and wind power to make methane from water and carbon dioxide. The plant, which will use technology developed by Stuttgart, Germany-based SolarFuel, is scheduled to start operation later this year. It will produce enough methane to power 1,500 of Audi’s new natural-gas vehicles, which also go on sale this year. [Read more]

January 22, 2013, San Francisco (USA) – BuildingIQ, Inc., a leading building energy management software company with a mission to redefine the way energy is managed in commercial buildings, today announced another significant milestone with the closing of $9 million in venture funding. Leading financial and strategic investors include Aster Capital (backed by Schneider Electric, Alstom and Solvay), the Venture Capital unit of Siemens Financial Services (SFS VC) and Paladin Capital. The funding will be used to accelerate growth and execute energy efficiency projects for a growing pipeline of commercial buildings in North America and Australasia. In a recent report by Pike Research (2012), BuildingIQ was described as “one of the leading vendors for Energy Management Systems in the smart buildings market today.”

January 2, 2013, Paris (France) - Dans un contexte marqué par la désaffection grandissante des investisseurs financiers, les acteurs industriels apparaissent comme des relais de croissance pour le capital-risque. Les grands groupes pèsent aujourd'hui près de 10% sur ce marché. Ces industriels investissent via leur propre véhicule, comme Total Energy Ventures, ou bien délèguent la gestion à une société spécialisée telle Innovacom de France Télécom.D'autres préfèrent encore s'associer, Schneider Electric. à l'instar de Solvay Alstom et Rhodia qui supportent le fonds géré par Aster Capital.