Sewage treatment technology developer Mapal Green Energy Ltd. has raised £1.5 million (NIS 8.3 million) in its second financing round from British private equities fund Charles Street Securities Europe LLP. The company also signed its first contract in the UK, with Anglian Water Services Ltd., and has set up an office in London. Charles Street Securities invested NIS 9 million in the company's first financing round in November 2010.
The company's technology can save up to 70% in energy consumption and up to 80% in operations and maintenance costs of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. The technology also reduces pollution by eliminating the need to dump raw sewage into water sources during repairs of treatment facilities.
Mapal Green Energy will use proceeds from the investment to expand its international operations and develop new sewage treatment products. Besides the UK, it is in advanced talks with authorities in South Africa, India, and South America.
Hanoch Magen invented Mapal Green Energy's technology and co-founded the company in 2007 with CEO Zeev Fisher. It began commercial operations the following year. Its technology is currently installed in over 30 sewage treatment plants in Israel and other countries.
Mapal Green Energy also signed a contract with Anglian Water Services, which provides water and sewage treatment services to four million customers in eastern UK. Mapal will initially install its technology at the Stanbridgeford municipal sewage treatment plant, north of London, and will initially upgrade 400 of the plant's 1,100 sewage treatment units.
Mapal Green Energy is also in talks with a second British sewage treatment company, which operates hundreds of sewage treatment units.
Mapal Green Energy is operating in the UK under the Foreign Office's TouchDown program, which helps foreign companies launch operations in the country. The company has also been aided by the UK-Israel Tech Hub program which operates out of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Fisher said, "Energy conservation is a critical factor in sewage treatment costs, because of the pressure to reduce their energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases. Mapal's solution meets this demand."
The company says that the operating costs global sewage treatment market will grow 20% from $77.5 billion in 2007 to $95.1 billion in 2016. Global investment in sewage treatment will nearly double from $26.7 billion in 2007 to $52.2 billion in 2016.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2013
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