Centrica is a multi-national British energy company that provides electricity, gas and various services to tens of millions of consumers, and is listed on the FTSE 100 on the London Stock Exchange.
The British energy giant Centrica, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange and counts among its holdings British Gas, ScottishPower, Bord Gais Energy and many additional holdings, has entered into a partnership with Israeli businessman Tsahi Merkur and has invested in the company “Driivz”, which Merkur controls.
Driivz has developed a data system for managing electric vehicle charging systems that enables the companies that operate charging points to monitor customers’ usage and to charge them accordingly. Currently, approximately 250,000 electric car drivers use the system worldwide.
Centrica, through an investment arm that invests in technology companies, Centrica Innovation, has joined up with the London investment fund, Ombu Group, which specializes in investment in advanced technology companies, and together they led an investment round that raised $12 million in the hi-tech company, Driivz, which is controlled by the international businessman and philanthropist Tsahi Merkur.
Driivz, which was established by Merkur in 2011, is a leading Israeli company in the fields of electrical energy and transportation and has developed a platform for online cloud management and billing. In this framework it provides solutions and software for infrastructure and charging stations for hybrid and electric vehicles and also the management and streamlining of smart energy projects.
The development center for Driivz was established in Israel and it developed a management system that has been declared by the Dutch fund ElaadNL as the leading management system in the world among all the systems that it tested. The ElaadNL Fund is the owner of the largest public network of charging points in Europe in the branch of infrastructure for charging electric cars and is one of the founders of the global consortium OCCP, which brings together leading public and private companies in the area of infrastructure for charging electric cars.
DRiiVZ has also developed an innovative online vehicle management platform called Vehicle-to-Grid, which enables network management of power transmission from electric vehicles to power grids, including technology that supports energy efficiency. Under this scope, DRiiVZ has integrated projects with leading energy companies in dozens of countries and is active throughout Europe, America and Australia.
Merkur, who completed the successful investment round in Driivz, continues to enjoy uninterrupted good news that he has received as of late including the realization of an investment round in a parking facility real estate asset in Israel that produced a profit within just one year of 400% – a record sale for parking facilities in Israel; and, also the announcement that Driivz was named in an international competition as the winner of the most innovative company in the field of electric transportation. The announcement of this achievement came after Driivz competed against 450 companies from 51 countries who were reviewed by the organization “Free Electrons”, which is largest global alliance of energy utilities in the world.
Centrica is a multi-national British energy company that provides electricity, gas and various services to tens of millions of consumers, and is listed on the FTSE 100 on the London Stock Exchange. It began in 1812 as a company that was called then “Gas Light and Coke Company”. Centrica is also a sponsor of sports teams, including the community-based Southern Football (soccer) League in England.
Ombu Group invests in a limited number of advanced technology companies and it, like Centrica Innovations, is making its first investment in Israel through Driivz.
Merkur is the owner of a large international group of companies, engaged in many fields of activity, including hi-tech, internet, real estate, retail, hotel, energy, advertising, bio-acoustics and electric transportation.
Merkur holds through the largest parking company in Israel, “Success Parking”, about 100 parking lots and facilities and holds the position of chairman of the Israel Parking Association on behalf of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in Tel Aviv.. In recent years, Merkur has been involved in advancing volunteer projects for the needy and for sick children in Israel and throughout the world and has set up for this purpose a national center for charitable donations and for assistance to the needy.
Merkur began his business activities in the business sector at the age of 16, as a high-tech entrepreneur. He studied at the Ort Singalovski School in Computers and Electronics specialty class. Tsahi Merkur’s breakthrough took place in the framework of his business activities on the Internet, and as a global pioneer in the field of an innovative business model entrepreneur. He was the first person in the world to incorporate commercial advertisements on the Internet, and did so even before Google and Facebook, which are leaders in the world today in the field of Internet advertising services.
According to Tsahi Merkur, who believes a breakthrough in the field of transportation will be created, among other things, by electric cars, by 2030 most of the cars sold in the world will be electric, including autonomous vehicles that travel independently without a driver.
