Confirmation Of A Very Large And Serious Player Would All But Cement Rossi's Claim To Have Developed A New Primary Energy Source - Let's Speculate On Who It Is!
The KPCB Clues
- Massive Greentech Team
- Immediately Identifiable From Location
- Previous Experience With Risky Alternative Tech - ie. Bloom Box
- Greentech Wing Operating Partner Has Links To DOE
- e-Cat.com Domain Points To KPCB Greentech Initiative
Today we we dare to speculate some more on the possible identity of the partner firm.
The KPCB Connection
The most important thing about Kleiner Perkins Caulfied & Byers (KPCB) is that they are the probably one of the largest new technology venture capital firms in the world with enormous amounts of investment capital at their disposal. It should also be noted that they have a particular interest in new green technology startups in that the widely disbelieved, but yet now proven and revolutionary
Bloom Box solid state fuel cell from Bloom Energy was a KPCB startup. Rossi's eCat LENR technology carries the same (if not more) mainstream scepticism and baggage.
The fact KPCB seem to have ignored the scepticism surrounding the Bloom Box and pushed ahead with investment puts them in the frontrunner position as the potential eCat partner firm. There are many similarities in the revolutionary aspects of both technologies and they share the same widespread barrier to acceptance.
Here are some of the Green startups KPCB are investing in
The Clues
Rossi has given several pieces of non-specific information which relate to the identity of the partner firm, so let's explore what we know already.
The first clue was that he said if he was to identify the city / location of the partner firm it would be obvious as to who the firm was. For example, in the same way that Detroit is immediately identifiable with several motoring giants. Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB) are almost instantly identifiable as one of the big Menlo Park, Califormia Players, so they fit the profile perfectly.
Daniele Passerini (blogger and close frend of Giuseppe Levi) is rumoured to have been told the identity of the partner firm already. Since day one Passerini has frequently been given insider scoops from Levi on the understanding that he does not publicly discuss them until the right time.
Through a recent translation he said:
"Fortunately he (Rossi) found a new customer in the U.S. (if it's true what I was told, and I have no reason to doubt that is true, it is a very important customer, known and above all suspicion) that will pay Rossi upon delivery of the first 1 MW plant (working) in October. With that money Rossi will pay the University of Bologna. Rossi will deliver the E-Cat, and the search can begin."
"Add that the American customer is NOT in any way as to be bamboozled. Add the test early September with that customer, which has been much talked about in here, and said that they had done in the U.S. at NASA, have actually been carried out in Bologna. Add that, from what I've been told, the test was successful: the American customer is satisfied and does not doubt that the E-Cat represents a new source of energy and not a scam, and I repeat is NOT a customer to be bamboozled in any way. Mats Lewan made his video after the test with the American customer had already been concluded (again positively)."
Again, KPCB fit the profile on both counts.
e-Cat.com Domain Name
Until recently the domain e-Cat.com redirected visitors to the Exxon Mobil site. However in the last two weeks it has been changed and now points to the KPCB website, and in particular it points to the Greentech Initiative Page. However, it is not possible to see the real owner of the domain by looking at the WHOIS data, so it is not known whether KPCB are indeed the owners of if it is just a private domain owner being mischievous.
Jan Van Dokkum is one of KPCBs senior operating partners specialising in bringing new Greentech initiatives to market. Here's what his company bio says:
"Jan van Dokkum is an operating partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He joined the firm in 2010 with the specific task of assisting KPCB's greentech ventures toward commercialization."
"Jan is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee, and he contributed to the Department of Energy's Grid 2030 National Vision for Electricity's Second 100 Years. He also co-chaired the Energy Efficiency in Buildings project for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. "
Rossi has ties to the DoE himself and also through Ampenergo so it is also interesting to note that Van Dokkum does also.
KPCB Company Overview
Since its founding in 1972, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has backed entrepreneurs in 475 ventures, including AOL, Align, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, Hybritech, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, Nuvasive, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. KPCB portfolio companies employ more than 250,000 people. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. KPCB has broadly invested in both life sciences and information technology since inception in 1972. In the last six years, KPCB has expanded its focus to include Greentech and pandemic preparedness.
Mission Statement
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers are passionately committed to helping our portfolio companies succeed. We know that it takes more than solid financial support to get a company off the ground - we help make things happen. We deeply believe that teams win.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers are passionately committed to helping our portfolio companies succeed. We know that it takes more than solid financial support to get a company off the ground - we help make things happen. We deeply believe that teams win.
Entrepreneurs gain access to our unmatched portfolio of companies and associations with global business leaders. These relationships are the foundation for strategic alliances, partnership opportunities and the sharing of insights to help build new ventures faster, broader and with less risk.
The Gorey Details
One of the more worrying aspects of a possible link with KPCB however, is KPCBs association with Al Gore. Gore is a director of KPCB for their Greentech ventures and as such is a leading influence on new Greentech investments. The eCat is a force to enable people to break free from the stranglehold of rising energy costs, so it is hard to imagine that Gore would want to be involved in this, since his business is all about carbon credits - (taxing people for the very elements essential to life on Earth and the demonization of Carbon Dioxide).
Speculation
Today I emailed KPCB and also made an enquiry through their Facebook page to ask if they can confirm / deny any connection to Rossi and his eCat LENR technology. When / If I recieve a response I will publish it.
