On 16-17 October 2012 the second Clean Technology business and investment matchmaking conference for the African continent is to be held at the Killarney Country Club in Lower Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Called “Viridis Africa”, the event is dedicated to entrepreneurs and corporates who are seeking funding to introduce clean technology solutions and services.
Principals who present their business opportunities at this event would have the audience of numerous local and foreign investors, stratified according to their interest and investment criteria.
Investors would include venture capital, private equity, project and corporate finance outfits and others dedicated to the clean tech sector. They would also include funding agencies, major industrial conglomerates, technology specific investment funds and major companies who seek strategic alliance and acquisitions.
The company Agama Biogas (Pty) Ltd, runner up in the 2011 South African CleanTech Competition will be presenting a business case for investment at the event. It is the manufacturer of the BiogasPro range of prefabricated biogas digesters.
The BiogasPro is a unique, patented system that is engineered, designed and manufactured in South Africa for African conditions. It is also the first small digester to achieve certification, in this instance by the South African Pipeline Gas Association.
In addition, BiogasPro is one of the contributors to The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design's, Green Good Design Award 2011 where it has been selected as an award winner for making a positive contribution in the area of more sustainable design and the environment.
BiogasPro’s offerings range from biogas digesters for schools that face inadequate and undignified sanitation for children and staff, to digesters handling animal manure and generating gas that removes the need for expensive and unreliable wood fuel and/or bottled gas for cooking.
In a survey conducted in 2008 for the Dutch Government, AGAMA Biogas identified 300 000 energy poor households nationally that could immediately have access to clean energy through biogas.
AGAMA Biogas, together with People’s Power Africa supplied and installed two BiogasPro digesters within an integrated sanitation, waste, energy and food production system at the Three Crown Junior Secondary school, which was one of four schools just in that area that benefited from the BiogasPro technology.
The integrated system won the school and People’s Power Africa 9 national and international awards recognising the project’s value.
In addition, AGAMA Biogas also extended further into the hospitality industry, where the company seeks to recycle the waste water from kitchens and hand wash basins, combining it in the digester with food waste from food preparation and plate scrapings.
The gas is then used in the kitchens for cooking and the nutrient rich waste water from the digester is then ideal for irrigation of gardens. Prime examples of such sites are the student residence, Leo Marquard at the University of Cape Town and the digesters that have recently been installed at three upmarket bush camps in Botswana.
Viridis Africa invites clean tech company owners to submit a business plan or executive summary for evaluation, and to be included in the line-up of the event.
The following are some of the clean tech sub-sectors in which principals may consider their company, initiative being presented:
• Wind, solar, hydro, biofuels, geothermal, clean coal technologies
• Fuel cells, advanced batteries, hybrid systems
• Building efficiency, smart grids, waste heat recovery
• Water treatment, water conservation, waste water treatment, desalination
• Recycling, waste treatment, organic matter, plastics.
Please note that the deadline for business proposal submission is 30th of August 2012.
Presenters will have the opportunity to introduce their investment case to interested parties throughout the lifecycle of their business, i.e. from conceptual, early stage / start-up through to established business.
Visit www.viridisafrica.com for more information
