NorwegiaN CleaNteCh

award2010

The Cleantech sector in

Norway is on the rise, and

attracts great national and

foreign interest.

Norwegian solar energy relat-

ed technologies have attract-

ed plenty of funding through

companies such as Norsun,

Metallkraft and Innotech So-

lar. This development contin-

ues during the first quarter in

2010, with the top five invest-

ments being Norwegian. Will

this success be repeated and

even accelerated in the years

to come?

iNtroduCtioNThe Norwegian Cleantech

Award aims to highlight the

cleantech succes stories yet to

come and provide an answer

to this question by doing so.

The Award is presented

by Cleantech Scandinavia,

Statkraft, Investinor and In-

novation Norway. It is a way

to help promising Norwegian

cleantech startups reach out

to the investors and indus-

try leaders across the Nord-

ics and internationally. The

award was open to cleantech

companies that had received

less than EUR 1,000,000 (1

million) in external private fi-

nancing (grant funding, inter-

nal industrial and money from

friends and family excluded).

A significant marketing effort

was made, reaching out to in-

novation hotspots in Norway,

including science parks and

incubators, as well as network

organisations, research insti-

tutes and seed funds – all in

all some 65 organisations. We

also got in touch directly with

over 70 Norwegian cleantech

companies. As a result the

jury reviewed an impressive

27 relevant applications. The

quality of the applicants was

deemed to be high and the

selection was not easy.

The winner of the five finalists

was selected during a ses-

sion at the Cleantech capital

day in Oslo 2010. The win-

ning company was awarded

EUR 10 000 and a selection

of free advisory services from

Statkraft and Investinor. The

jury selecting the final five

finalists consisted of repre-

sentatives from Cleantech

Scandinavia, Statkraft, In-

vestinor, BASF Venture Capi-

tal and Innovation Norway.

The overall and main criteria

was growth potential, judged

through information provided

by the participants regarding

innovation, ability to execute

and market.

In 2009, out of the top 20 Nordic investment deals, no less than eight were Norwegian, including the larg-est investment.

1 Introduction

appliCatioNs by stages

The distribution here is very

similar to that of the com-

panies receving venture

financing in the Nordic re-

gion during (to energy re-

lated segments in 2009) so

this tells us that the energy

focus is likely to continue in

terms of Norwegian dealflow.

”Water” and ”Air and Environ-

ment” are mong the more

traditional environmental

technology segments and it

encouraging to see that inno-

vation is clearly taking place

also in these industries. It is

notable also that we received

no applications from the

highly sought after energy

storage segment.

appliCatioNs by CleaNteCh segmeNts

Since we aimed for the early

stage companies, the distri-

bution below is basically as

expected.

Applications by stageLaboratory scale technology testing 50%Prototype ready 31%Real scale / customer ready 19%

Applications by segmentEnergy generation 50%Energy storage 0%Energy infrastructure 8%Energy efficiency 4%Transportation and logistics 4%Water and wastewater 12%Air and environment 12%Advanced materials 8%Manufacturing and industrial 4%Agriculture 0%Waste and recycling 0%

2 Applications

3 Profiles

profiles of the five seleCted fiNalists

PRODUCT INFOKyoto Energy has designed a

portfolio of products specifi-

cally for the sun-rich develop-

ing countries. Their products

allow families, villages, farms

and industry to switch from

using fossil fuels and wood to

solar and bio energy. By using

common materials like plastic

and aluminum in their innova-

tive products, and claiming

carbon credits from the use of

these products, Kyoto Energy

makes it possible to produce

electricity and heat at a lower

cost than coal.

COMPANY INFO Name of the company

Kyoto Energy ASWebsite

www.kyoto-energy.com

Location

Raufoss, Nairobi, Cape Town and Indonesia

Cleantech segment

Energy generation

4 Profiles

PRODUCT INFOWindFlip has its roots in the

Norwegian Institute of Sci-

ence and Technology (NTNU)

where it has developed a novel

solution of transportation and

installation of offshore float-

ing wind turbines – a WindFlip

barge. The barge transports

one fully assembled turbine,

lying in a nearly horizontal

position on top of its deck.

Once at the offshore site, the

barge starts filling its ballast

tanks and the stern is conse-

quently submerged, until it flips

90 degrees and the turbine is

standing in vertical position.

PRODUCT INFOECOsubsea developed an

environmental conscious hull

cleaning solution for the large

sea-going vessels, while they

are loading/discharging cargo

in ports. Combining hull clean-

ing, propellers polish, hull in-

spection in one operation, the

technology allows the removal

of the debris and fouling from

the underwater part of the ves-

sel while preserving the paint.

Among the benefits are the de-

crease in the spread of marine

invasive species and improved

fuel economy for the vessel.

COMPANY INFO Name of the company

WindFlip AS Website

www.windflip.com

Location

Trondheim, Norway

Cleantech segment

Transportation and logistics

COMPANY INFO Name of the company

ECOsubsea ASWebsite

www.ecosubsea.com

Location

Austevoll, Hordaland and Oslo

Cleantech segment

Energy efficiency

5 Profiles

PRODUCT INFOSorbwater developed a process

that applies Sorbfloc, a sea-

weed based, highly effective and

specialised flocculent, to remove

all particles from waste water

through chemical bonding. This

technology allows zero dis-

charge of oil and other environ-

mentally harmful components in

such applications as treatment

of produced water from oil wells,

slop water from rig drains, proc-

ess water in shale gas extraction

and other industrial processes.

The flexible and scalable system

also significantly reduces waste-

water treatment costs due to

on-site treatment.

PRODUCT INFOMemfoACT has successfully

developed a new type of carbon

membrane for gas separation,

which reduces both investment

and operation costs for a vide vari-

ety of gas separation applications.

MemfoACT is currently working on

a biogas application - the separa-

tion of CO2 from biogas - hence

upgrading the biogas or biometh-

ane production. The technology

has a significant cost reduction

potential for small scale applica-

tions. The main feature of the new

membrane is the ability to combine

high efficiency of separation and

productivity, which outperforms

commercial membranes.

COMPANY INFO Name of the company

Sorbwater Technology ASWebsite

www.sorbwater.com

Location

Bergen, Norway

Cleantech segment

Water and wastewater treatment

COMPANY INFO Name of the company

MemfoACT ASWebsite

www.memfoact.no

Location

Trondheim, Norway

Cleantech segment

Advanced materials

6 Profiles

the orgaNisatioNs behiNd the award

StatkraftStatkraft is Europe’s largest renewable

energy company. The group devel-

ops and generates hydropower, wind

power, gas power, solar power and

district heating, and is a major player

on the European power exchanges.

Statkraft also develops marine energy,

osmotic power and other innovative

energy solutions.

InvestinorInvestinor invests in Norwegian based,

high potential companies that are inter-

nationally oriented and in the phases

ranging from early growth to expansion.

The company has BNOK 2,2 under

management and focus on companies

within the energy, cleantech, maritime,

marine and travel sectors.

Innovation NorwayInnovation Norway promotes nation-

wide industrial development profit-

able to both the business economy

and Norways national economy, and

helps release the potential of different

districts and regions by contributing

towards innovation, internationalisa-

tion and promotion.

Cleantech Scandinavia Cleantech Scandinavia is a member-

ship network of investors and affiliated

cleantech professionals designed to:

Provide cleantech knowledge, con-

tacts and investment opportunities

Be a coordinating voice to promote

the Nordic cleantech sector

Drive cleantech innovation and growth

in the Nordic countries

For more information and how to become a member:

www.cleantechscandinavia.com

www.cleantechscandinavia.se