great article! Clean tech perseveres in tough economy

Hi fellow bloggers.

I have made a few changes with my contact details over the web in order to help people find me better. Please feel free to contact me any one of the following ways:

David Anthony - Corporate profile
http://21ventures.net/pages/management-team.asp

David Anthony on LinkedIN
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidanthony21ventures

on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/21danthony
http://www.youtube.com/user/21danthony

If someone wants to contact me with a business idea, please first have a look at our investment criteria section in 21Ventures.net








David Anthony speaking to a crowd in Seattle WA - USA



Without further ado, give you my latest article:

Clean tech perseveres in tough economy

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

The pre-holiday Fourth Conference on Clean Energy at the Hynes Convention Center is long since over, but the event has traditionally proven to be a litmus test for the local clean energy industry.

Surprisingly, the event maintained at least a slight feeling of optimism for the long-term prospects of the local clean technology community, despite the plunging stock market, tightening financial environment and plummeting price of oil. If nothing else, its success bolstered the industry’s position among the region’s traditional industry heavyweights such as telecom, biotech and finance, and left attendees feeling that the industry has a future beyond next year’s event.

Some notes:

• Stealthy portable battery maker Lilliputian Systems Inc. of Wilmington made an appearance at the conference, with new vice president of business development and marketing Mouli Ramani walking the halls. Though the company had a small presence at the show, its big announcement came from its Wilmington facility, where Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick attended an event and helped the company announce the addition of 100 new “green collar” jobs through a planned expansion of its manufacturing plant.

The expansion comes as the company finally put a target date — 2009 — on the release of its portable fuel cell for wireless devices.

For the uninitiated, Lilliputian was founded out of MIT on research developed by Samuel Schaevitz and Aleks Franz, Lilliputian’s co-founders. In 2003 they added CEO Ken Lazarus, and despite raising more than $60 million in funding, the company has remained fairly quiet about its technology.

Over the past few months, a slow stream of information coming out of the company seems to indicate that it has solved the technology issues, and units could be forthcoming as soon as next year.

While such miniature, portable fuel cells have been researched both here and in Asia for years, they have always been “some time away.” If Lilliputian has indeed solved the technology issues, and has a device that can penetrate the $50 billion portable power market, it is no surprise the governor turned out for its expansion announcement.

When you consider the applicability of such power sources on everything from cell phones and music players to GPS units and laptops, 100 new jobs to get them out the door may be just the beginning.

• Two local companies used the conference to announce new funding. Cellulosic ethanol microbe developer SunEthanol Inc. announced its name change to Qteros Inc. and brought in $25 million, while alternative engine technology maker ReGen Power Systems LLC added $5 million to its coffers.

What’s interesting about the two deals is that despite the Chicken Little syndrome that has many in the industry saying no “new money” is coming out of the VC community, both deals included new investors. Qteros’ new investors include Cambridge-based Venrock, New York-based Soros Fund Management LLC and energy giant BP PLC, joining previous investors Battery Ventures,Long River Ventures and Camros Capital.

For ReGen Power Systems, the investment represents the firm’s first private funding, though it previously received $500,000 from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. It’s new investors are New York-based 21Ventures LLC and the Quercus Trust.

Despite being held during the heart of one of the worst financial weeks in recent history, the economic outlook of the clean energy sector was positive among attendees of the conference. The financial sections of the event, including the annual “investor pitch” sessions, where budding entrepreneurs pitch their company to potential investors, were among the most-attended sessions of the event.

• The atmosphere was likewise positive at the conference’s job fair, where a handful of companies still hiring people (rather than laying them off) fielded questions from a room packed with potential employees. According to Matthew Richards, the founder and managing director of renewable energy recruiting firm DanePartners, which sponsored the job fair, the abundance of job seekers wasn’t all that surprising, given the economy. The number of companies hiring, however, including Conservation Services Group of Westborough, Satcon Technologies Corp. of Boston, Konarka Technologies Inc. of Lowell, Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlborough and Second Wind Inc. of Somerville, was encouraging.

Among the areas that were most active, said Richards, were green-collar jobs, those that require hands-on knowledge of technologies, both new and traditional. Sectors most active on the recruitment side included energy efficiency and demand-response companies, as opposed to core technology research companies in the wind, solar or biomass sectors.

Israeli Company To Go Pubic on Toronto Stock Exchange

Click anywhere to view this document in PDF
Vesta Capital Corp. (TSXV:VES.P)
Announces the Signing of a Letter of
Intent for Its Proposed Qualifying
Transaction
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 10, 2008) - Vesta Capital Corp. ("Vesta")
(TSX VENTURE:VES.P) is pleased to announce that on October 30, 2008, it entered into
a letter of intent ("LOI") with 3GSolar, Ltd. ("3G"). The LOI provides that Vesta will
enter into a share exchange transaction with each of 3G's shareholders, which will result
in 3G becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vesta (the "Transaction"). The
Transaction is intended to constitute Vesta's "qualifying transaction" under TSX Venture
Exchange ("TSXV") policies. If the Transaction it successfully completed, it is believed
that 3G would be the first Israel-based business listed on a Canadian stock exchange.
About 3G
3G (formerly, Orionsolar Photovoltaics Ltd.) is a developer of dye solar cell ("DSC")
photovoltaic modules. DSC technology is a cost-effective alternative to silicon and thin
film-based systems, providing a low-cost solar energy solution that produces electricity
efficiently even in low light conditions. 3G focuses its efforts to develop DSC modules to
serve off-grid markets, mainly in developing countries where in excess of two billion
people live without electricity.
3G was incorporated June 24, 2004 under the laws of the State of Israel. Its business
operations are conducted through its facility in Jerusalem, Israel. Upon completion of the
Transaction, it is anticipated that the resulting issuer will be classified as a research and
development issuer by the TSXV.
The issued shares of 3G are owned by thirty-four (34) shareholders. Dr. Jonathan
Goldstein (of Jerusalem, Israel), 3G's founder, its president and a director, owns
approximately 11% of 3G's shares (fully diluted). Seventeen (17) shareholders (including
three 3G employees who own less that 3% of 3G's shares, fully diluted) are individual
Israel residents or Israel corporations controlled by Israel residents, who collectively own
approximately 22% of 3G's shares (fully diluted). The remaining sixteen (16)
shareholders own approximately 66% of 3G's shares (fully diluted). Fifteen (15) of these
remaining shareholders are limited liability companies formed under the laws of
Delaware (U.S.A.) and controlled by U.S. residents, and one (1) shareholder is an Ontario
corporation controlled by a resident of Ontario. Other than Dr. Goldstein, the only
shareholder who holds in excess of 10% of 3G's shares is DG-OSP, LLC, a Delaware
(U.S.A.) limited liability company, controlled by The Quercus Trust (Newport Beach,
California) which owns approximately 17% of 3G's shares (fully diluted).
To date 3G has engaged in the research and development of DSC photovoltaic
technology. 3G employs seventeen (17) professionals at its facility.
3G has provided Vesta with audited financial statements (prepared in accordance with
Israel auditing standards) for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, which
financial statements have been reconciled to Canadian GAAP (both presented in United
States dollars). 3G has also provided unaudited financial statements for the 6 month
period ended June 30, 2008, which financial statements are also being reconciled to
Canadian standards. As at December 31 2007, 3G had total assets of USD$1,514,175 and
total liabilities of USD$202,330. For the year ended December 31, 2007, 3G had a net
loss of USD$967,255 of which USD$741,079 represented R&D expenditures incurred
during the period. As at June 30, 2008, 3G had total assets of USD$1,293,891 and total
liabilities of USD$262,390. For the 6 month period ended June 30, 2008, 3G had a net
loss of USD$655,726 of which USD$289,435 represented R&D expenditures incurred
during the period.
Terms of the Transaction
Vesta is proposing to issue 25,000,00 common shares to holders of 3G shares pro rata
(based on the number of 3G shares held) at a deemed price of $0.40 per share, in
exchange for 100% of the issued shares of 3G. Upon completion of the Transaction,
Vesta will own 100% of 3G. 3G's current business (as heretofore described) will become
the business of the resulting issuer.
The Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including but not limited to: (i) both
3G and Vesta completing their mutual due diligence of one another, which due diligence
is to be completed within 30 days of the date of the LOI, (ii) negotiation of acceptable
definitive share exchange agreement(s) (or other suitable arrangements) between Vesta
and each holder of 3G shares, (iii) receipt of all required regulatory approvals (including
TSXV approval as noted below), and (iv) Vesta raising sufficient additional funds which,
which combined with Vesta's existing funds, will allow it to meet the TSXV's minimum
listing requirements upon completion of the Transaction.
There are no persons who are Control Persons (as defined in TSXV policies) in both
Vesta and 3G and no director, officer or insider of Vesta owns any shares of 3G and no
director, officer or insider of 3G owns any shares of Vesta. As such, the proposed
Transaction does not constitute a "Non-Arms Length Qualifying Transaction" (as defined
in TSXV policies). Therefore, subject to TSXV confirmation, the Transaction will not
require the approval of Vesta's shareholders.
Agency, Fiscal Advisory and Sponsorship Arrangements
To satisfy the condition set out in (iv) above, concurrent with the closing of the
Transaction, Vesta will conduct a public offering of common shares by way of prospectus
in Canada and in other jurisdictions pursuant to available exemptions, seeking to raise
between $4,000,000 and $6,000,000 of funds (the "Offering"). Subscribers to the
Offering will receive common shares of Vesta at a price of $0.40 per share.
Vesta has engaged Canaccord Capital Corporation ("Canaccord") to act as lead agent in
connection with the Offering. Canaccord has agreed to lead a syndicate of agents
(collectively, the "Agents"), including Sandfire Securities Inc. ("Sandfire").
In connection therewith, the Agents will be paid a cash commission of 8% of the funds
raised and will receive that number of brokers warrants which is equal to 10% of the
number of common shares sold. Each brokers warrant will entitle the holder to purchase
one common share of Vesta at a price of $0.40 per share, for a period of 24 months from
the closing of the Offering.
Canaccord has agreed to act as sponsor in connection with the Transaction, however
Vesta expects that it will be exempt from the TSXV formal sponsorship requirements
provided a portion of the Offering is completed by way of prospectus signed by a duly
qualified agent (such as Canaccord). An agreement to sponsor should not be construed as
any assurance with respect to the merits of the Transaction or the likelihood of
completion. The financing and the sponsorship are subject to the completion of
satisfactory due diligence by Canaccord.
Vesta has also engaged Canaccord to provide fiscal advisory services in connection with
the Transaction. In connection therewith, Vesta has agreed to pay Canaccord a monthly
work fee of $25,000 plus G.S.T. for up to four months.
In addition to the above, upon completion of the Offering, Vesta has agreed to issue as a
success fee, 1,350,000 common shares (assuming the minimum Offering is sold) up to a
maximum of 1,575,000 common shares (assuming the maximum Offering is sold) to
Canaccord (which amounts will be reduced by up to 250,000 shares in lieu of any
sponsorship fees and any monthly work fees paid to Canaccord, to a maximum of
$100,000 at a price of $0.40 per share) and 150,000 common shares (assuming the
minimum Offering is sold) up to a maximum of 175,000 common shares (assuming the
maximum Offering is sold) to Sandfire.
About the Resulting Issuer
Following completion of the Transaction the resulting issuer will continue 3G's business.
Upon completion of the Transaction and the anticipated minimum offering described
above, 3G's shareholders would own approximately 60% of the issued shares of the
resulting issuer. It is not anticipated that any single shareholder of 3G will own in excess
of 10% of the shares of the resulting issuer.
It is anticipated that the directors and officers of the resulting issuer will be as follows:
Barry N. Breen is currently the Chief Executive Officer and a director of 3G. Upon
completion of the Transaction, Mr. Breen will be added as a director and named Chief
Executive Officer and President of Vesta. Mr. Breen served 16 years in senior positions
at AVX Corporation (listed on NYSE). Prior to AVX, Barry was an engineer at General
Electric (listed on NYSE). Mr. Breen holds a B.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Breen was awarded the Kaplan Prize in 1994
for excellence in industrial development. In 1998, he was awarded the Kyocera
Corporation President Award for outstanding achievement in product & business
development.
David Anthony is currently a director of 3G. Upon completion of the Transaction, Mr.
Anthony will be added as a director and named Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of
Vesta. Mr. Anthony, is Managing Partner of New York venture capital firm, 21Ventures,
LLC. Mr. Anthony currently serves as a director on the boards of public companies
Worldwater & Solar Technologies Corp. (listed on OTCBB) and Open Energy
Corporation (listed on OTCBB), and private companies Agent Video Intelligence Ltd,
BioPetroClean Ltd., Juice Wireless, Inc. and VoIP Logic, LLC. Mr. Anthony teaches
business management at the New York Academy of Sciences where he is an Adjunct
Professor. Mr. Anthony received an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at
Dartmouth College in 1989 and a BA in economics from George Washington University
in 1982. He is an entrepreneurship mentor at the Land Center for Entrepreneurship at
Columbia University Graduate School of Business. In 2002, Mr. Anthony was awarded
the Distinguished Mentor of the Year Award from Columbia University.
Harold Wolkin is currently the President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and a
director of Vesta. Upon completion of the Transaction, Mr. Wolkin will resign from all
offices held by him and remain as an independent director of Vesta. Mr. Wolkin is a
designated chartered financial analyst and Vice Chairman, Sandfire Securities Inc.
(subject to regulatory approval), a full service, boutique investment bank. From August
1983 until his retirement in January 2008, Mr. Wolkin was employed with BMO Capital
Markets, serving as the Managing Director, Diversified Industries, Investment and
Corporate Banking. Mr. Wolkin received his B.A. from York University in 1975, his
M.A. from the University of Toronto in 1976 and became a member of the Chartered
Financial Analyst Institute in 1980. Since April 2008, Mr. Wolkin has served as a
director of Grandview Gold Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter
Bulletin Board listed company. Since November 2005, Mr. Wolkin has also served as a
director of Brighter Minds Media Inc. (formerly Road Runner Capital Corporation), a
TSX Venture Exchange listed company.
Frank Bellotti, is a current director of Vesta. Upon completion of the Transaction, Mr.
Bellotti will remain as an independent director of Vesta. Mr. Bellotti served as is the Vice
President and Director of Prime City One Capital Corp., a TSX Venture Exchange listed
company. Mr. Bellotti is also the President of Kingside Mortgage Corporation, a position
he has held since January 1989. Mr. Bellotti served as a director of BDE Equities from
June 2006 to March 2008 and served as a director of Kingsdale Capital from June 2001 to
June 2006.
Dr. Jonathan Goldstein, is the President and a director of 3G. It is anticipated that Dr.
Goldstein will be appointed to the Vesta board some time following completion of the
Transaction. Dr. Goldstein has been President and Chief Scientist of 3G since its
founding. He served as a senior scientist at LUZ Industries, a pioneering company in the
solar energy industry. From 1977 to 1989, Dr. Goldstein served as the senior battery
scientist at Tadiran Ltd., Israel's flagship electronics company. Dr. Goldstein received his
Ph.D in Chemistry from City University, London, UK. He holds 38 granted US patents,
and has published/delivered more than 30 scientific papers.
TSXV Approval
Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not
limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable pursuant to TSXV requirements, majority
of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until
the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the
transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular
or filing statement or prospectus to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any
information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or
complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool
company should be considered highly speculative.
For Investors
This press release may include statements about expected future events and/or financial
results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Vesta
cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, many of which
are beyond its control. Future events and results may vary substantially from what Vesta
currently foresees. Discussion of the various factors that may affect future results is
contained in Vesta's recent filings, available on SEDAR.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed
transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

Bio Petro Clean video animation 6

You can learn more at BioPetroClean.com

Cognisafe, makers of anti cheat software, get seed funding from 21Ventures

October 1,2008 -

21Ventures announces investment in CogniSafe Ltd. - Anti-cheat software provider for online-games


New York, NY and Tel-Aviv, Israel, October 1, 2008 --- 21Ventures, a U.S. based venture capital firm, announced today a seed investment in CogniSafe Ltd. – an Israeli company providing real-time anti-cheat software solution for online games . The funding is earmarked for sales and marketing and ongoing product development. “CogniSafe brings an exciting new approach to solve the cheating problem in online games, a problem which causes significant losses to gaming companies and harms the players ability to enjoy the challenge and adventure of a cheat-free game environment. Just like online banking and commerce services, the online gaming industry is vulnerable to fraud and cheating, but no real time solution has been presented so far to solve the cheating problem. We believe that CogniSafe solution will become the standard in detection and prevention of cheating in online games and we are happy to be among the first to identify CogniSafe potential” said David Anthony, Managing Partner of 21Ventures. The cheating problem in online games causes game providers to remove tens of thousands of paying players every month, due to suspected cheating. The removal is usually done following a complaint from other players, or after a post mortem analysis of player's actions. In addition, a significant number of legitimate players abandon some game titles, and cease paying, when they feel they have been cheated. CogniSafe's solution enables online game providers to detect, in real time, any deviation from proper gaming procedures by the online players, and remove cheaters from participation in the game, thus makes cheating attempts futile and enables other players to continue and enjoy a cheat-free gaming experience. "There is a clear need in the market for a real-time solution that will enable the gaming companies to really understand the magnitude of the cheating phenomena, gather evidence against cheaters, and remove them from the game before they affect the gaming experience for other players ”, said Izik Shimon, CEO of CogniSafe. Izik continues "We are already engaged with several leaders in the online gaming industry, which understand the potential of increasing the integrity of their games and avoiding significant losses, by working with CogniSafe".

Want to read more? Check out some of these links...

• 21Ventures-Cognisafe Press Release - PDF
  
• 21Ventures Cognisafe Press Release on 21Ventures Site
  
• Read the Cognisafe / 21Ventures article on emedia- CLICK HERE!
  
• Cognisafe contact details
  
• Read about Cognisafe in WiMax
  
• Read about Cognisafe on The Individual
• Gambling News about Cognisafe
• Read about Cognisafe in Dow Jones Industrial
• Cognisafe on Lexis Nexus
• Cognisafe Microsoft Partner Page

David Anthony of 21Ventures speaking in Memphis earlier this year

Hey Folks, just wanted to share one of my videos with you, of me speaking in Memphis earlier this year.

You can also watch by clicking on this link - David Anthony Speaking in Memphis

don't flutter tomorrow, what you can flutter today.

Hey folks, just wanted to tell you about one of the companies i invest in that now offers the cool new  flutter application for the iphone

Juicecaster/flutter for the iphone. Send MMS from your iphone.

If your an iphone user, you should check it out, 

***

If you have a blackberry, check out the

Juicecaster for the Blackberry.

thanks!

Da

Solar Power Grant

21Ventures and the Quercus Trust Award $200,000 Grant to Support the Solar Energy Research of Professor David Cahen of the Weizmann Institute of Science New York, NY,

PDF - 21Ventures article on Weizmann $200,000 Quercus Trust Award

Download doc file - 21Ventures article on Weizmann $200,000 Quercus Trust Award

September 15, 2008 --- 21Ventures and the Quercus Trust announced today that they have awarded a $200,000 grant to support the solar energy research of Professor David Cahen of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. The grant will be used to further the exploratory research of novel approaches to harness solar energy in less expensive and more efficient new ways and to explore approaches for making better use of existing solar energy technologies. “Professor Cahen’s ground breaking work has the potential to make a significant impact on the availability and the ultimate use of alternative energy sources, in this case, solar energy. Such efforts support the goal of 21Ventures and the Quercus Trust to secure a cleaner and healthier environment worldwide,” said Mr. David Anthony, Managing Partner, 21Ventures. One area that the research will focus on is exploring the potential of various long-term light management approaches. That direction will be complemented by research on potentially low cost, novel ways to collect more energy from sunlight and the means of using that energy in daily life. “Professor Cahen is a globally respected scientist with an international reputation for excellence. His advancements in the clean energy field are impressive. It is with pride that we support his work and at such a quality academic institution such as the Weizmann Institute of Science,” said Mr. Anthony.

About 21Ventures Founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York, 21Ventures is a venture capital fund which invests in seed, early stage technology and publicly traded companies in the physical security, clean energy and mobile software markets. 21ventures is led by David Anthony who, in addition to serving as Director of several 21Ventures portfolio companies, serves a member of the Board of Director’s of World Water & Solar Technologies Corporation. The fund’s primary geographic focus is Israel, where over half of the company’s investment capital has been deployed to date. 21Ventures currently manages more than $250 million worth of investments in 25 companies in Israel and the United States. More than half of 21Ventures’ investments are in clean energy companies. For more information, please visit www.21ventures.net.

To schedule an interview, please contact David Anthony at danthony@21ventures.net or at 212-889-4681. About Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,600 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Contact info: David Anthony, Managing partner 21ventures, LLC
e-mail : danthony@21ventures.net Telephone 212-889-4681.