Shai Agassi Reinvents the Gas Pump for All-Electirc Cars @ Better Place

After almost becoming the CEO of SAP global, Shai Agassi now aims to reinvent 'the pump' - for battery powered all-electric cars.

With a $200M investment in his pocket, Shai Agassi is planning to build a network of battery-charging stations in the US, Europe and emerging markets with his new venture called 'Project Better Place', which already has a head count of ten. The seed round was raised from two funds and a group of private investors. The Israel Corporation, a large Israeli transportation and technology holding company, invested $100 million earlier this year. The rest was invested by Vantage Point Venture Partners, and heavy weight investors Edgar Bronfman Sr., the liquor magnate (Chivas Regal, Crown Royal), and James D. Wolfensohn, former head of the World Bank.

The new system will sell electric fuel on a subscription basis and will subsidize vehicle costs through leases and credits. In a recent interview, Shai said that tests of prototype vehicles would start in early 2008 and the company would begin commercial sales and service in 2010.

Unlike Tesla Motors and other electric-car ventures that focus on the battery itself (performance, life cycle and cost), Shai's venture plans to extend the existing electric-power grids with a wide network of recharging stations in urban areas, that will be supplemented with a smaller number of automated battery-replacement stations.

Shai Agassi, 39, joined SAP in 2001, when it acquired his Israel based company, TopTier software .
Check out the New York Times and WSJ for the rest of the story. To learn more about the project, see the Fact Sheet (Pdf).


Also, see Shai's presentation (requires plugin) by clicking on the image below:

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AqWise Performs the Water Miracle

Israeli headquartered AqWise provides advanced biological wastewater treatment technologies, recycling a simple concept that has been used for years in fish aquariums.

AqWise uses a patented technology called AGAR® (Attached Growth Airlift Reactor), which increases capacity and nutrient removal in waste water treatment plants, utilizing advanced bio film technology. The technology has been described as "building condominiums for Bacteria".

According to the company website, the AGAR process uses a polymer cylinder that, when placed in wastewater treatment ponds, clusters microbes that consume contaminants. The water can then be safely discarded or used to irrigate fields.

The AGAR process can be used in intensive municipal plants and extensive lagoons, from fish-farms to food industries, from pulp and paper plants to chemical plants. The process allows to expand existing waste water treatment plants while using the same biological reactor, therefore, it reduces the cost of upgrading, the project duration, and the area required for additional reactors.

AqWise's first effective plant was completed for the Israeli town of Yavneh and it processes the total needs of its community. The company's products are implemented in over 20 sewage treatment plants in the US, Canada and Latin America.

AqWise is led by CEO Eytan Levy (42), the founder and a Partner at Israel CleanTech Ventures. The company was founded in 2000, has 18 employees and received a $4M round in 2006. Recently Elron aquired 34% of AqWise's shares.

Take a sneak peak at AqWise's purifying process