"Heat waves reinforce the need to invest in the worlds of sustainability and energy"
"Heat waves reinforce the need to invest in the worlds of sustainability and energy"
Gil Davidman, CEO of Israel’s QD-SOL, which claimed first place in the Aviram Awards, added: "Companies like ours come to solve a fundamental problem"
Almost three months have passed since Israeli company QD-SOL won first place in the Aviram Awards competition and the success has not stopped there. The company, which is engaged in the production of green hydrogen, has recently won grants from the Ministry of Energy and the Innovation Authority which are estimated at one million dollars and the flow of investments also increased following the win.
On the face of it, the climatech sector has managed to escape the negative sentiment currently seen among investors in Israeli high-tech, following the jump in interest rates and the judicial reform in Israel. "I don't see it," explains the company's CEO Gil Davidman. "We represent a certain field which is a market for green hydrogen, for clean energy, and that's the way they look at us - as very professional. It is a fact that investments came in and we received grants during this period. I've been an entrepreneur for 12 years and I don't remember periods where there were no ups and downs. Those who are good will succeed."
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From right, Noa Aviram, co-chairman of the Aviram Foundation, Gil Davidman, CEO of QD-SOL, Ziv Aviram, founder & president of Aviram Foundation, Eric Ganour, VP of Business Dev, QD SOL, Lior Atias, Senior VP, Aviram Foundation, Lior Yedidia, Co-Founder, VP R&D QD-SOL
According to data published by the consulting company McKinsey in March of this year, investments in the climate sector more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, from approximately $75 billion to approximately $196 billion. Furthermore, while the general investments in high-tech in 2022 decreased by 24%, the climatech market maintained stability and even grew by 6.6%.
Investments in climate-tech are relatively stable compared to other high-tech investments.
"The worlds of sustainability and energy are 15-20% of these investments. The heat waves we have been through in recent times are another reinforcement of the understanding that we need to invest in the worlds of sustainability and energy. Companies like ours come to solve a problem that is fundamental. The hydrogen market exists, it is not futuristic and it is only growing. That's why I think that investors, regardless of the period, if they see a good opportunity, they will take it."
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"The hydrogen market in the last two years jumped from $130 billion to $200 billion. This only shows how great the demand is and it is going to jump to more than $2 trillion. The amount of entrepreneurs and players will increase as it is completely linear to the state of the climate."
In May of this year, QD-SOL won first place in the Aviram Awards, an annual competition of the Aviram Foundation in collaboration with "Forbes" magazine for startups and entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa, who work for what is defined as "improving the reality of life for the better through business, innovation and technology". The winning venture won a prize of half a million dollars, as well as professional support from the foundation's founder Ziv Aviram and media support from "Forbes". "We were just at a climate exhibition in London," says Davidman, "I must say that some of the funds that met us heard about us following the announcement of the award. We have more than 40 leads following the win. That means the impact of the win is very large."
The company develops technology to produce "green hydrogen". Most of the hydrogen today in the world is produced by a polluting electrolysis technology that consumes electricity. QD-SOL offers a technology that utilizes solar energy to produce green hydrogen from water using nanoparticles - without the need for electricity.
"We are a unique player in the field of green hydrogen," says Davidman. "Usually we talk about creating hydrogen using electricity in the form of electrolysis, we do a process called photocatalysis, meaning decomposition that is on the panel using particles and the sun." He explains that the company's product does not need an electrical grid to produce hydrogen, only sunlight. Each panel is a type of hydrogen reactor in itself. The great advantage of this method is that hydrogen can be produced anywhere.
The main growth engine today for the demand for hydrogen is the fertilization market. "Today there is a huge shortage of fertilizer. There is also the steel industry, for example, and there is talk of ships and trucks and transportation and many other avenues that will switch to hydrogen," he concludes.
