Venture Capital Firms

VC Firm ICV Capital Leads $10 Million in Series B Funding for Tigo Energy

Based in Los Gatos, California, a leading solar energy company, Tigo Energy announced that it has just closed $10 million in series B funding with ICV Capital leading the funding and existing investors participating in the funding. Existing investors include Matrix Partners, OVP and Clal Energy.

Tigo Energy was founded in 2007 and has a unique solar technology which can increase the energy from photovoltaic solar systems. This can be done with Tigo Energy’s new technology, known as the Maximizer and is patent pending. The Maximizer System works by being able to return 20% more power than the conventional solar panels use for generating solar energy today. Furthermore, with the extra energy generated, operational expenses are also reduced, since the solar panels last longer and the owner of the panels does not have to replace them or parts of the solar panels as often.

Tigo Energy’s new technology has also impressed several of the media outlets, with a tech news program naming the company’s new technology as a”2009 Fire Starter,” because of the potential for this technology to disrupt the alternative energy market. This program has a list of twelve venture capital backed global startups poised for success as the “fire starters” of that particular year. The fact that Tigo Energy made this list in 2009, shows that the company’s technology has great market potential. To further validate this claim, the company is approaching the anniversary of the first two successful installations of its new solar technology in Santa Cruz and Berekley, California.

As far as Ron Hadar, Tigo Energy’s president, is concerned, the fact Tigo Energy has closed this round of funding is such a dyer financial situation and with vc firms weary of making investments is a testament to the fact that the company’s product is worth investing in. This round of funding further shows that the venture community has confidence that Tigo Energy will do well with its product and that the company’s management team is determined to make the company succeed.

What furthers the potential success of Tigo Energy, is that the company’s CEO, Sam Arditi, will go to the InterSolar Exposition in Munich to market Tigo Energy’s product and develop a strategy to ramp up the company’s revenues.

ICV Capital was founded in 1998 and is a private equity firm that aims to make investments in America’s mid-market companies. The equity firm looks for companies with revenues as low as $25 million up to as high as $200 million. ICV Capital’s strategy is to invest in smaller companies and believes that smaller companies can make better investments and yield better returns than some of the larger corporations. Some companies in ICV Capital’s portfolio include PFM Group, Entertainment Cruises, Inc, Press A Print International, LLC, and others.

Founded in 1977, Matrix Partners is a global vc firm that has offices in the United States, China, and India and believes that quality makes a better impression than quantity. Matrix Partners likes to invest in companies that it believes to be at the forefront of creating new markets in the creation of new software, communications equipment, semiconductors, and the internet. Matrix Partners has two offices in the United States, one in Silicon Valley and one in Boston. The vc firm’s India office is located in Mumbai and its China office is located in Beijing. Some companies in Matrix’s portfolio include Abarella, TimeLab Corporation, Blue Dolphin Group, Lucid Era, and others.

Founded in 1983, OVP is a vc firm that, like all others, invests capital in companies in new markets. OPV mainly invests in the clean tech, digital biology, and IT industries. The vc firm currently has over $750 million under its management and the initial investment into a company from OVP is usually about $1.5 million. Some companies in OVP’s portfolio include 800.com, @Mobile, @Once.com, ActionEngine, AdmitOne Security, and others.

Clal Energy is one of Israel’s leading vc firms that invests in companies that are in the manufacturing, advanced technology, and consumer industries. Some of the companies in Clal Energy’s portfolio include Fund Tech, Jordan Valley, Nova Measuring Instruments, Arcadian Networks, and others.

For more information about Tigo Energy, click here.

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