Venture capital group, Energy Ventures, have strengthened their board with the appointment of Jim Sledzik and Anoop Poddar as partners.

Stavanger based Energy Ventures focuses on growth technology companies in the energy sector and has offices in Aberdeen and Houston. Last year the company made six new investments in addition to establishing a new fund - Energy Ventures III - with a total committed capital of US $350m.

Mr Sledzik will head up Energy Ventures' Houston office as manager. He joined the Norwegian company in April 2008 and has more than 18 years of experience in the oilfield services industry, holding senior posts including global marketing director and vice president of multi-client services for WesternGeco and global account director for Schlumberger.

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Mr Poddar is a former vice president in the corporate finance division of investment bank Simmons and Co and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He joined Energy Ventures in January 2008 as an investment manager and his new post will be based in Aberdeen.

Energy Ventures apply four key criteria when choosing companies in which to invest: groundbreaking technology; sustainable economics; an international product or services market; and a cooperative management with a proven ability to reach its goals.

Ole Melberg, Managing Partner of Energy Ventures, said: "Anoop and Jim both possess the right combination of industry knowledge and financial acumen. In addition they have different skill sets and strengths and fit very well into the Energy Ventures team."

(GK/JM)