Earlier today, the Smith team had the opportunity to visit one of the most interesting companies currently operating in Israel today, Better Place. Launched in 2007 by Shai Agassi, (who we had seen speak earlier this summer at the Technion) the one time future CEO of SAP AG, Better Place has already raised over $700 million dollars in venture backing. The goal of Better Place is to get the world off of oil - focusing on creating an innovative model for the car industry and a new generation of electric cars - whereby the battery is removed from the cost of the car. An idea which has the potential to be a real game changer.
Better Place has already entered into agreements with Nissan-Renault and China's Cherry Automobile to produce full lines of vehicles starting in 2011. Israel and Denmark are the initial target markets - with a planned roll-out in Australia shortly thereafter. In the next day or two, I'll provide some additional debrief and background on our visit (and a full recap of our test drives on their car track), as well as our other company visits. In the meantime here's a video that gives a great overview of the firm and its mission.
Better Place has already entered into agreements with Nissan-Renault and China's Cherry Automobile to produce full lines of vehicles starting in 2011. Israel and Denmark are the initial target markets - with a planned roll-out in Australia shortly thereafter. In the next day or two, I'll provide some additional debrief and background on our visit (and a full recap of our test drives on their car track), as well as our other company visits. In the meantime here's a video that gives a great overview of the firm and its mission.
