Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHEB Partners
pioneers in European clean technology
Name, Organisation
Introducing WHEB Partners
A pioneer among the cleantech VC firms in Europe
Location 2 offices (London and Munich).
9 investment professionals and 2 part time venture partners (excluding
WHEB Asset Management’s 3 professionals and WHEB Infrastructure
Partners’ 4 professionals).
Team Size
2
Why WHEB is different
20 years of pioneering activity in the cleantech sector.
Team
Blue chip venture capital (post seed stage) and expansion capital experience.
Experience
Industrial and entrepreneurial track records.
Award winning technology commercialisation track record.
Extensive Government policy advisory work (UK, Germany and EU).
Proactive
Hands-on, value adding approach.
Style
Very few European cleantech specialist VC firms have been in business long
Second Fund
enough to be investing their 2nd fund. 3
Partners
James McNaught-Davis (London)
MA from Cambridge and MBA from Wharton Business School
Originally investment banking with Schroders & Merrill Lynch &
then responsible for M&A at Misys plc, helping grow the business
from £50m to £1bn in revenues
10 years VC at partner level with Warburg Pincus and Advent
Joined WHEB Ventures as its managing partner in 2007
Speaks French and Italian
Member of British Venture Capital Association’s Energy, Environment
& Technology Board
5
Partners and venture partners
Jörg Sperling – Partner (Munich)
Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering – University of Aachen, Germany.
Research at AT&T Bell Laboratories (New Jersey USA) and at Israel’s
Institute of Technology (Technion).
8 years VC experience; 6 years in Silicon Valley (Infineon Ventures and
Ridgewood Capital), 2 years in Germany as cleantech focused venture
partner at Target Partners, Munich. Previously VP of Sales at ZMD AG.
Speaks German, English, Spanish and Hebrew
Dr Mike Mattner – Venture Partner (Munich)
PhD in Chemistry from Technische Universität München.
Former CEO of TUM International GmbH, international commercialization of
IP belonging to the Technische Universität München.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Get2M GmbH.
Energy Clean
Energy
Efficiency Industrial Waste Water
Generation Processes
& Storage
7
WHEB’s current
investments
Although one third of WHEB’s deal flow is in renewable energy generation,
risk-adjusted returns have looked better in less fashionable categories like energy efficiency,
industrial and agricultural efficiency, materials, waste and water:
Energy Clean
Energy
Efficiency Industrial Waste Water
Generation Processes
& Storage
8
Location Originally Australia but now US.
Track Record Developed award winning product improvements enabling low cost
& Plans mass production.
Developed large scale distribution partners (Netafim, Rubicon).
Revenues depressed since investment due to Australian drought but
now doubling due to US emphasis and recurring revenue contracts
with seed companies.
WHEB Role Leading role in finding US COO & developing exit strategy.
Leading role in recruiting new US based CEO for 2009.
Leading role in finding US based investors
9
Location Southampton, UK.
Key Large potential market, in both heavy duty automotive and stationary
Attractions power, driven by increasingly challenging targets for fuel efficiency and
emissions reductions.
Payback between 1-2 years.
Strong IP and excellent management team.
Track Record Delivering a major order to supply 200 units to Schnell, a German
& Plans stationary power manufacturer. Combined with a Framework
Agreement to supply over 2,000 units, this relationship will be worth
£37 million for Bowman during the next 5 years.
Working on development projects with several large truck
manufacturers including International Truck (Navistar).
WHEB Role Led successive rounds of investment and introduced several new
investors into the 2010 Investment round. 10
Location Winchester, UK.
WHEB Role Recruited new CEO, Chairman and NED to look after R&D and
manufacturing.
Led several rounds since Dec 2004 totalling over £7.6m including
recent over-subscribed £2m round bringing in MTI
Leading exit strategy development
11
Location EVAP Environmentals Limited, based in York, UK.
Key Unique way of co-extruding poly lactic acid (food use certified) and
Attractions poly vinyl alcohol (gas barrier) to create a clear, tough, machineable,
sealable bioplastic film for packaging fresh produce.
The only compostable bioplastic film with a gas barrier yet a uniquely
high vapour transpiration rate which significantly helps extend shelf
life in fast-spoiling produce.
Company A spin-out from Philips – designs, assembles and sells micro filtration
Activity products providing unsurpassed cost savings and reductions in energy
use.
Track Record Signed a €1 million development agreement with Tetra Pak for milk
& Plans filtration and shelf life extention. This will evolve into a full commercial
agreement.
Converting existing cooperation agreement into commercial contract
with Bayer to address the chemical processing market via installation
of fluXXion equipment in a commercial acetone stripping plant.
Winner of World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award 2008.
WHEB Role Playing a lead role in restructuring the board, reducing Philips culture,
and recruiting new CEO.
Invited into the syndicate to bring market focus.
13
Location Based in Austin, Texas, USA.
Key Blue chip client base (Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Sedatec, Tyco).
Attractions Market-leading technology and top quality management team.
Selected by Shell to develop world’s first commercial DTS system for
subsea applications. If successful this could open a significant new
global market opportunity.
Track Record Revenues grew from $1m in 2006 to $3.9m sales in 2009.
& Plans Focusing sales activity in geographic areas with strongest market
traction – North America, Middle East and South America.
Upside potential from the “smart grid” application of the technology,
along the power transmission and distribution network, in the light of
US Stimulus Package funding.
Track Record Trials at the UK Health and Safety Executive laboratories are
& Plans proceeding successfully with 99.99% kill rates being achieved.
New products launched in 2009.
Food Sector Division now profitable.
Contracts obtained in range of NHS hospitals.
WHEB Role Led several funding rounds since 2007 alongside North West Equity
Fund.
Leading exit strategy development. 15
Location Limerick, Ireland.
WHEB Role Converted debt of company into equity, priming it for growth
Introduced company to several blue chip OEMs
Aiding in internationalization strategy, professionalizing management
17
Location Newbury, UK.
Company Software & data services platform to provide “smart grid” energy
Activity efficiency solutions to the home.
Automated energy optimisation software to reduce household energy
use (both electrical and thermal) by up 18% and optimise use of local
microgeneration supply (from solar thermal and PV) with local demand.
Key Selected as one of the six hottest products to watch at the Consumer
Attractions Electronics Show 2010.
Multiple business-to-business routes to market.
Strong core management team led by a driven serial entrepreneur, Colin
Calder. He and several key members of his management team
previously built Paragon Software from 1996 and subsequently sold it to
Phone.com for £310 million ($500 million) in February 2000.
WHEB Role Led Series A round in July 2009, co-investing with the founding CEO.
18
Location Headquartered in Lidköping, Sweden with a second plant in Âs, Czech
Republic.
Key Established, profitable business with long term contracts with blue chip
Attractions customers (e.g. Coca Cola, Carlsberg and Heineken).
Opportunity to accelerate growth through the launching of new products,
notably 20 litre + beer kegs and water coolers.
Low acquisition price, equivalent to 2x 2009 EBITDA and 1.6x 2010 EBITDA,
for this €60 million turnover, green packaging leader in the German-
speaking world (DACH) and the Nordic region.
Track Record Company has strong cash generative track record and now expects to
& Plans grow revenues and margins more quickly through the introduction of new
large container products. £6m EBITDA forecast for 2010 and turnover of
£56m.
WHEB Role Co-led the consortium for this £17 million buyout.
Negotiated mezzanine funding from KBC and working capital facilities
from Swedish and Czech banks as well as the purchase from Rexam PLC. 19
Location Headquartered in Starnberg at Starnberg lake near Munich, Germany
Track Record Company has revenue growing track record and now expects to grow
& Plans revenues and margins through the introduction of new products.
Company Supplies a suite of low power solutions for display technologies which
Activity minimize reflections and enhance display brightness/ contrast (thus
lowering energy needs), improve robustness, and provide longer
product life cycles
Track Record Management has built company from inception in 2005 to €7.6m in
& Plans just 3 years
Customers include Dell, HP, Siemens, General Dynamics, GE
Automated plants to be built in Asia to satisfy large demand
21
Location Manchester, UK.
Track Record Company‘s first demonstration plant in Berlin has been processing
& Plans rubber offcuts for customers since August 2009.
Company has identified a site for its first North American
demonstration plant in Ontario, Canada.
Jörg Sperling
Maximilianstr. 36
80539 München
Tel. +49 89 122 2808 20
Mobil +49 173 595 0938
joerg@whebpartners.com
www.whebpartners.com