Northwest Energy Angels invest more than $880,000 in nine cleantech start-ups

Angels add Advisory Council, Increasing Value for Members and Entrepreneurs 

Seattle, WA – February 22, 2012 – The Northwest Energy Angels, the Pacific Northwest’s only angel group focused exclusively on providing early-stage capital to cleantech entrepreneurs, continued its mission of building a vibrant cleantech community in 2011 by investing more than $880,000 in nine cleantech companies, one receiving a second round of funding.

“Despite the economic downturn, our members continued to support cleantech innovation, which we think is a vital part of achieving a clean energy economy and building a thriving business community in the Pacific Northwest,” said Byron McCann, co-chair of Northwest Energy Angels. “We saw a number of exciting cleantech innovations this year, especially in the lighting, water, renewables, materials and energy efficiency spaces. We’re really looking forward to continuing to meet other talented entrepreneurs in 2012 and helping them become leaders in their markets.”

Since its inception in 2006, the Northwest Energy Angels have invested close to $4.8 million in 31 regionally based cleantech companies. This year the group welcomed 20 new investors, bringing the total to nearly 50 members. It also added an Advisory Council of six distinguished leaders from the clean technology, investment, environmental and research arenas to provide insight and guidance to members.

In 2011, the Northwest Energy Angels invested in the following cleantech companies:

New Investments

• Banyan Energy - www.banyanenergy.com
  Developed breakthrough technology for photovoltaic modules using a new category of waveguide optics known as Aggregated Total Internal Reflection (ATIR).
• BioVantage Resources - www.biovantageresources.com
  Offers sustainable, bioremediation solutions for industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewater treatment.
• Columbia Power Technology - www.columbiapwr.com
  Developed new wave energy harvesting devices using novel, off-shore, direct-drive, permanent-magnet generator technologies.
• Flux Drive Inc. - www.fluxdrive.com
  Designs and manufactures permanent magnet, adjustable speed drives and couplings that increase the life and performance of rotating equipment while decreasing energy consumption by as much as 75%.
• OneEnergy Renewables - www.oneenergyrenewables.com
  Offers Renewable Energy Certificates and Carbon Offsets, and develops wind and solar projects, to help customers meet their clean energy goals and grow the green power supply in the US.
• Virticus - www.virticus.com
  Developed a scalable communication and control system that enables a 30-50 percent reduction of lighting system energy and maintenance costs.
• WISErg Corporation - www.wiserg.com
  Developing a technology that converts compostable organic waste into valuable organically derived fertilizers and biogas..

Follow-on investment

• REV Technologies, Inc. (REV) – www.revtechnologies.ca
  REV's electric vehicle (EV) energy networking technologies allow EV's to act as high-output energy endpoints that improve the resilience and reliability of the power grid by synchronizing their energy needs with renewable power generation in real-time.

Additional Northwest Energy Angels Stats: 2006 Inception to December 2011

• Number of companies which presented to members: 117
• Number of companies that received first-time investment from the group: 31
• Companies that received follow-on investment: 8
• Total amount invested to date: $4.8 million

The Angels welcomed these individuals as members of their first Advisory Council:

• Nancy Floyd, founder and managing director of the venture capital firm Nth Power
• KC Golden, policy director of Climate Solutions
• Rick LeFaivre, a partner at OVP Venture Partners
• Amory Lovins, co-founder, chairman and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute
• Ron Pernick, co-founder and managing director of Clean Edge
• Rob Wiltbank, a partner at Montlake Capital and an Associate Professor of Strategic Management for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University

About Northwest Energy Angels

Northwest Energy Angels, founded in 2006, is the first angel investment group in North America to focus exclusively on the cleantech industry. A non-profit organization, Northwest Energy Angels helps create successful cleantech companies by connecting promising entrepreneurs with experienced cleantech investors. Northwest Energy Angels members add value to the companies they invest in and act as a bridge to institutional investors. To date, members have invested close to $4.8 million in 31 companies. For more information, visit http://www.nwenergyangels.com/.

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Media contact: Helen McClenahan
205-576-5502
hmcclenahan@webershandwick.com

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