Israeli cleantech company Aquarius Technologies Inc. has raised $4 million in its second financing round from Evergreen Venture Partners. The capital will be disbursed in two $2 million installments.
Aquarius has raised $7 million since it was founded in 2003. The company develops wastewater treatment solutions. This is Evergreen's second cleantech investment, following its investment in Pentalum Technologies Ltd., which develops remote sensing wind measurement systems for wind turbines.
Aquarius is unusual in the Israeli scene. It posted $8 million revenue in 2010, and is close to breaking even. It will probably become profitable in 2011. The company develops and installs proprietary elements in oxygenation ponds to prevent the creation of sludge during the water purification process.
"Globes": What is sludge?
Evergreen general partner Adi Gan: "Sludge is basically the bacteria that feed on and purify wastewater, making it usable. Purification ponds are usually large ponds into which the wastewater flow, where bacteria eat organic particles, leaving treated wastewater and sludge."
What is Aquarius's device used for?
Evergreen investments manager Idan Mor: "Local authorities and companies with purification ponds."
Why has Aquarius succeeded in reaching the market and achieving such strong sales?
Gan: "One of the biggest failures in cleantech is in reaching market, and it's not just a problem for Israeli companies. Aquarius has already reached the market and is quite successful in it. Credit goes to Jonathan Lietersdorf of L Capital Partners, the first investor in the company, who appointed Thomas Pokorsky as its president and CEO three years ago. He is one of the few people in Israel with sales in this market - he founded Sanitaire, which was sold to ITT Water and Wastewater in 1999, where he managed the purification division. He knows the market and the customers, and they know him. In the US, we have several facilities at working sites, and we believe that the company's revenue will grow 50-70% in the coming year."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 4, 2011
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