Michele Appendino

Founder, President and CEO of Solar Ventures, Michele Appendino graduated from the Polytechnic of Turin in Italy with an Electronics Engineering degree. He attended INSEAD business school (Fontainebleau, France) were he obtained an MBA. He worked with Andersen Consulting in Spain and with FMC in California (US). Michele was a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, in the Milan office (92-96). During this period he was part of the media, retail and fashion practice. Michele also co-founded Net Partners Ventures in 1997. Net Partners Ventures was the first venture capital company in Europe focusing exclusively on internet companies (start-up/early stage). In 2005, he founded A.M.E. Ventures which is active in seed investments and in control investments in growth stage companies. It has 8 portfolio companies in Europe and India and is now very active in renewable energy, including a control stake in Solar Ventures an independent solar energy power producer, active in Italy and the Mediterranean area. Solar Ventures has recently been included in the CNBC Top 50 Global Low Carbon Pioneers.

Solar Ventures is an Italian company which directly installs, operates and manages photovoltaic power plants. We own a diversified portfolio with different plant sizes in various regions of Italy and in the Mediterranean area. Early entry into the sector and a well engineered approach has allowed Solar Ventures to quickly become one of the leaders in PV energy production in Italy. The target of Solar Ventures is reaching a total installed capacity of 50-100 MW within the next 2-3 years in Italy, with a much higher medium term goal in the Mediterranean region. Solar Ventures is also developing partnerships with innovative producers of solar components, mainly US and Israeli companies.