ETF invests €12m in sustainable wood technology - 3/12/2009

In this fortnights issue:

• ETF invests €12m in sustainable wood technology
• Britons prefer DIY banking
• Real Life open beta - try your hand at trading
• Rob Hersov exemplifies 'entrepreneurs backing entrepreneurs' model
• Building attraction and being a magnet - Penny Power

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ETF leads €12m investment round in Kebony

Norwegian-based Kebony, which produces a sustainable alternative to tropical hardwood, closed a €12m financing round led by the Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) this week.

Kebony's proprietary wood modification technology transforms conventional, fast growing, sustainable wood species into wood which looks, feels and performs like tropical hardwood. The company will use the investment to support it's international expansion.

Deforestation is acknowledged as one of the most significant environmental problems in the world - a third of the world's rainforest has disappeared over the last 50 years and deforestation now accounts for around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Christian Jebsen, CEO of Kebony, said: "Kebony is a revolution in wood products. Our exciting new wood materials are already used with enthusiasm by architects all around Europe. The tropical rainforest, one of the world’s richest natural environments, is on the verge of destruction and the impact on climate change could be very severe. We believe Kebony is a solution for the future and I am very pleased to have ETF on board to help us achieving our global ambitions."

Henrik Olsen, Partner at ETF, added: " Kebony offers a sustainable alternative, and is being adopted globally by these most discerning buyers. In fact Kebony has great potential to replace tropical hardwood in many multi-billion markets, and so make a major contribution to saving precious rain forests across the globe."

Britons prefer DIY banking

Britons would deliberately choose a computer or a mobile phone to manage their finances before phoning a call centre, new research reveals.

One in five of us would prefer to log-on than dial a call centre and speak to a person, findings from the Future Foundation think-tank and mobile banking firm Monitise show. This preference has grown rapidly - up from 1 in 20 in 2002 - as technology has improved and broadband become more widespread.

Unsurprisingly, it is the younger generation leading the way – with more than a quarter of 18 to 25 year-olds opting for technology ahead of the human touch. However, pensioners are getting in on the do-it-yourself act, with one in ten logging on or using their mobile phone to manage to their money instead of a call centre.

“People want to manage their money on their terms, and with most tasks easily done via mobile and internet banking, they have 24/7 control at their fingertips,” said the Future Foundation’s Barry Clark, the author of the Money on the Move report.

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Real Life open beta - try your hand at trading

Virtual world start-up Real Life launched in open beta on Facebook last week, giving young people the opportunity to experiment with careers in the finance world.

Real Life is a 3D, avatar-driven game - playable solo as a learning experience or with friends - and centred on a virtual London in which users can try their hands at trading, earn virtual money and lay down the challenge to their friends.

Through a seamless interface with real-time trading platform gnuTrade, users can trade stock market indices, bonds, currencies, oil and gold in a multiplayer dealing room. Successful traders can purchase a range of virtual goods such as villas on the Riviera, fast cars or great clothes to enhance their virtual lifestyles – and online kudos.

Founder Paul Flanagan said: “Video gaming has a huge following amongst teenagers and twenty-somethings of both sexes, and Facebook has emerged as the biggest gaming platform going. We’re harnessing this to create a sophisticated virtual world that will allow young people to test drive their lives and careers; and those with an interest in trading to see if they have what it takes.”

Log in to FB and check it out: http://apps.facebook.com/reallifetrader/install/

Entrepreneur backing entrepreneurs - Rob Hersov

Rob Hersov liked one of his latest investments so much he married the brains behind it.

Hersov, a prolific entrepreneur, saw Medikidz go live at the tail end of the summer. He backed the business and married its co-founder, Dr Kate Hersov.

A website offering both children and their parents advice on spotting health symptoms and how to live a healthy lifestyle, Medikidz has taken the health education world by storm.

“A lot of businesses you hear about seeking investment are merely improvements on other business,” says Hersov. "But there’s nothing like Medikidz out there. It’s a brand for children’s health using five superheroes in a virtual world offering great advice to kids and their parents.”

Health charities, schools and health services are already signing up to the online service at www.medikidz.com.

Hervov, 49, may be a London-based private investor now, but his previous career has involved many projects in many different sectors. He was born in Johannesburg and is a member of the Hersov family of South Africa, founders of AngloVaal, one of the largest Southern African mining and industrial companies.

Read the interview...

Building attraction and being a magnet

This is an extract from Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me, a new book on the power of social networking, by Penny Power, founder of Ecademy

We have established that the world is changing and we have a feel for the factors that are creating this change. In his inaugural speech Obama said: 'Greatness must be earned; there are no shortcuts.’ The same principle applies to being online.

The confusion surrounding the social media world is huge and every day people are taking a ‘leap of faith’ into the unknown, with no real feel for what it can achieve for them.

There is a feeling that prevails wherever I go and meet people that they know they have to start playing and be part of this new ‘thing’. Finding case studies of successes are ten a penny as everyone can quote a moment in their day online where they found the right piece of information or the right person. Woody Allen famously said, ‘Ninety per cent of success in life is just showing up. If you’re not in the game, you can’t win, lucky or not.’ The new world is exactly this, you just have to turn up and play.

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