TIE CleanTech SIG Mumbai launch

Finally what began as a small gathering of CleanTech enthusiasts at Nexus India Capital's office 5 months ago has now taken a formal shape. Nexus has pioneered formation of a CleanTech SIG (Special Interest Group) under TIE umbrella in Mumbai. I chair the SIG and we have a core team of extremely passionate CleanTechies who are working together to create a platform where people can come together and share knowledge and build passion. We believe this passion will drive a buildup of an active CleanTech ecosystem in India.

If you want to use this platform to speak to an audience, spread the knowledge or can help in core activities of the SIG, please contact me at manoj@nexusindiacap.com

Thanks
Manoj

Coffee with Nexus

Nexus India Capital, a leading venture capital firm in India, wants to make sure that they are accessible to entrepreneurs. This group aims to bring together entrepreneurs who are interested in participating at our monthly event, "Coffee with Nexus", which is a limited seat event held in Mumbai, India every month. If you are an entrepreneur who is struggling with scalability issues or lost in term sheet or thinking of starting a fresh business and need VC validation, come and attend our “Coffee with Nexus” event.

Join “Coffee with Nexus” LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/721417

Next Event: September 24, Wednesday, 3-5PM

Location:
Nexus India Capital Advisors
201 B Phoenix House
462, S. B. Marg, Lower Parel
Mumbai 400013

CleanTech event in Mumbai

Date: Aug. 30, Saturday, 10AM-12:30PM

Venue:                Nehru Planetarium, 

                               Hall of Quest,

                               Worli, Dr.A.B.Road, 

                               Mumbai – 400018

1. 9:30AM-10AM : Registration

2. 10:00AM-10:15AM : Event introduction - Sandeep Singhal, MD, Nexus India Capital

3. 10:15AM-11AM : “CleanTech Technology Landscape in India” – Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Head of Energy Systems Department, IIT-Mumbai

4. 11AM-11:30AM : “Green Building Opportunity in India” - Mr. S Raghupathy, Head of CII-Green Business Center, Hyderabad

5. 11:30AM-12PM : “Role of banks in CleanTech ecosystem” – Vivek Mehra, Country Head, Sustainable Investment Banking & Private Equity, Yes Bank

Rita Soni, Country Head, Responsible Banking, Yes Bank

6. 12PM-12:30PM : Networking over snacks and coffee

This is a paid event and hence following fees are applicable. The fees can be paid at the event reception.

Per Session Fees

TiE Members – 250

Non-Members – 400

Students – 100

Package Discount for all 3 sessions

TiE Members – 600

Non-Members – 900

Students - 200

Please RSVP as soon as possible as seats are limited. Also please forward this to folks you know who will be interested in this.

RSVP:      manoj@nexusindiacap.com

                 anahita@tiemumbai.org

Other events to follow:

1. CDM workshop - September

2. Building and scaling a CleanTech company in India : A leading CleanTech company CEO – October

3. CleanTech Business Plan competition - October

Energy Recovery: is there a similar company in India?

An interesting IPO which did very well on first day (in bad times). They recover pressure energy back from waste stream to boost the feed seawater, reducing energy consumption of sea-water desalination. Simple concept but very powerful and useful.

This is a good animation of how it works.

http://www.energyrecovery.com/px_technology/ERIPX3DAnimation.mov

Founded in the early 1990s, Energy Recovery develops systems that capture and recycle energy from desalination. The company says that its main product – PX Pressure Exchanger (PX) – conserves up to 98% of the energy.

And, in terms of market coverage, PX systems are installed in over 300 desalination plants. As a result, Energy Recovery's growth rate has been particularly strong. Revenues have gone from $4 million in 2003 to $35.4 million in 2007.

Manoj

CleanTech event - Lets meet

I will be at this CleanTech event for two days. If anyone of you is also present there will love to meet. Drop me an email at manoj@nexusindiacap.com

2nd India CleanTech Forum
10th & 11th July 2008
The Taj Mahal Hotel
1, Mansingh Road
New Delhi - 110 011 India.

For more Information, please visit

http://www.cleantechforum.com/

Manoj

Why Water is still not that Hot?

Usually one big crisis draws attention of the world towards a growing problem and that then kickstarts a whole new set of opportunities. Can this California drought event create a bagful of opportunities in water?

Below are my reasons as to why water is still not that hot as energy is:

1. Water is a big problem but which can be tackled easily by smart use of it. The biggest benefit of water is that we can recycle it which unfortunately is not possible in energy space. Expect recycling to reach the European/Isreal levels (upto ten times) in USA and India too. Also the other benefit is that water is actually abundantly present which can be made “available” by desalination technologies or rain water harvesting (only 3% of total water is freshwater) which is unfortunately not the case with energy.

2. It is hard to force consumers to pay more for water since historically water has been seen a very abundant and free commodity unlike energy which needs to be generated at a cost. Water is a low margin business because of inability to pass increased cost to them. The only point which makes water more important than energy is that it is one of the basic needs for human survival.

3. Basic need for water is for drinking and cooking use. The other uses of water people adjust themselves depending on water availability (use less water for bathing, shaving etc as happens in villages). Usually people do not show that flexibility in energy and find it more painful to adjust to lower levels.

4. Energy direct touchpoints are more in our life than water. We get in direct touch with water when we eat or drink which are few in a day. With energy we are in touch at all the times (Air conditioning, TV, Internet, Travel, Mobile phones) and we immediately get uncomfortable when it is switched off. For individuals, therefore energy seems like a bigger problem than water and therefore the hype associated with energy can be easily created.

5. Not a lot of technological innovations that can happen in water industry unlike in energy. At least thats the perception.

6. Typically, water retail consumers spend less than 0.1-0.2% of their income on water and more than 1% on energy (electricity+fuel) making energy a much bigger industry (atleast ten times more, $5 trillion Vs $500 billion).

Any thoughts?

Manoj

CleanTech Networking Event : 3-6PM, 5th July, 2008

As you may know CleanTech is the buzzword of this decade and is rightly so. With 380 ppm of carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere and $125/barrel of crude oil glaring in our face, CleanTech is the need of the
hour. Whether we are polluters or not, we all will be impacted by the climate change. As part of our
initiative to increase awareness in the society, Nexus India Capital along with Al Gore's Climate
Project Group, Vinod Khosla chaired CleanTech India group and TIE Mumbai have teamed up
to provide a platform for networking and discussion on "CleanTech in India". 

We invite you to attend this event and contribute in building awareness on CleanTech in India.

Date: July 5th, Saturday, 3-6PM

Venue:    The Climate Project India,

               2nd Floor, Victoria House,

               Pandurang Budhkar Marg,

               Lower Parel, Mumbai - 400 013

               Landmark: Bombay Dyeing Showroom

Brief agenda:

1. "The Inconvenient Truth" - Anjuli Pandit & Gaurav Gupta, Climate Project India

2. "CleanTech Landscape in India - A VC perspective" - Manoj Gupta, Nexus India Capital

3. "CleanTech - Global Perspectives" – Jaswinder Kaur, CleanTech India

4. "Carbon Trading landscape in India", Dr Milind Antani, Nishith Desai Associates

5. Q&A, discussions and networking

6. Snacks, Tea and Coffee

RSVP:      manoj@nexusindiacap.com

               anjuli@climateprojectindia.org

Please RSVP as soon as possible as seats are limited.