NorthZone , Hafslund and Statoil invest €2,25m in ChapDrive

(Trondheim 2 July 2007) ChapDrive AS and NTNU Technology Transfer AS (TTO) have today entered into an agreement with NorthZone Ventures, Hafslund Ventures and Statoil New Energy regarding a share issue combined with sale of shares of 14.3 million NOK (EURO 2,25 mill.)

ChapDrive AS was founded in December 2006 based on research from The Department of Energy and Process Engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The company delivers a patented system for hydraulic transmission.

The market for wind turbines is in a strong growth with an order of NOK 100 billion in total sales. The market is dominated by large international suppliers who deliver wind turbines with a standard technology. ChapDrive's technology will enable lower weight and more cost efficient wind turbines by reducing weight in the nacelle, simplify installation and reducing operation and maintenance cost. This is of great importance when developing offshore wind turbines where Norwegian suppliers and park owners can build an international leading position.

ChapDrive is currently field testing a 300 kW prototype at Valsneset outside Trondheim, Norway. The project has a total budget of about € 1 million and is supported by Shell Technology Norway, Statkraft Development, Norsk Hydro Production and the Norwegian Research Council.

ChapDrive is located in Trondheim, Norway and will with the new investors onboard build an international leading growth company within its segment. The company is planning to deliver 1 MW pilot installations from 2008. The founders behind the company are professor Peter Chapple, Ole Gunnar Dahlhaug, Per Olav Haarberg, Bård Brandåstrø, Åsmund Furuseth (CEO) and business developer Jan Biti.
Tellef Thorleifsson, partner in NorthZone Ventures will be the new chairman of the company.

About the investors:

Northzone Ventures AS
Northzone Ventures is a leading Nordic venture firm specializing on technology. Northzone has about NOK 2,5 billion under management, and is located in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Northzone is currently holding more than 25 technology companies mainly originating from the Nordic area, and Northzone has been a lead investor in among others Stepstone, Nextgentel, Mamut and Funcom, Revolt Technology, Norstel and T-VIPS.

Hafslund Venture AS
Hafslund Venture is an active owner in growth companies within renewable energy, energy related technology and concepts related to the value chain in Hafslund. The total venture assets under management are more than NOK15 billion, with 18 investments, where the photovoltaic company REC represents by far the largest value. By investing in external companies and utilizing competence from the Hafslund corporation, venture represents a flexible and cost efficient way of conducting research and development with focus on profit.

Statoil New Energy AS
Statoil New Energy is working with business development and investments in new clean energy solutions and utilizes the competence in Statoil to develop future-oriented technology and market positions for renewable energy production.

NTNU Technology Transfer AS
NTNU Technology Transfer AS (TTO) is the wholly owned commercialization organ of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). TTO assists to secure that research from NTNU and St.Olav Hospital is utilized through license agreements and founding of new companies. TTO is active owner in Pelagic Power, SEC Systems, Dynavec and Secustream Technologies.

More information
Chairman of the board: Tellef Thorleifsson, Phone: 22 12 50 10
CEO: Åsmund Furuseth, Phone: 95 76 46 41

Chapdrive AS
Richard Birkelandsvei 2B
7491 Trondheim, Norway
info@chapdrive.com
www.chapdrive.com

Publisher Contact Information:

Chapdrive
95 76 46 41
info@chapdrive.com

Company profile of Northzone Ventures
Past press releases of Northzone Ventures.