IVC Online and KMPG have released their summary of venture capital raising for Q2 2011, in Israel. 285 companies raised $1.048 Billion in the first half of 2011, an 82% increase compared to the $577 million raised in the equivalent period in 2010. In Q2 alone, 145 Israeli companies raised $569 million from both local and foreign VCs.
Since their inauguration in February 2011, little has been shared on the VentureGeeks program or its participants - until now. Yesterday, VentureGeeks unveiled its first five investments in their Investor Day event, following the Y Combinator model.
The TAMID Fellowship is a selective program that funds TAMID’s most promising student leaders for an eight-week internship and business immersion experience in Israel. For Israeli companies, the TAMID Fellowship is a boon. TAMID compensates the interns directly, and companies are not required to provide a wage.
The recent wave of Internet IPOs seems to remind the Israeli VCs of the previous tech bubble. 50% of them, believe that we're about to enter a second bubble and 33% claim that Groupon, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Zynga are overvalued, according to the latest Israel VC Indicator Survey for Q2 2011, published by Deloitte.
The Israel Innovation Road Trip, is an effort to raise both funding and awareness. Organized by Bootcamp Ventures, a small advisory firm for startups, fifteen Israeli startups will pitch their ventures to an audience of investors in Boston and New York. Check out the startup list below.
Video is a great way to get your startup some viral visibility. According to Cisco, by 2015, one million minutes of video - the equivalent of 674 days - will cross the internet every second (!) and as the YouTube blog pointed out more than 48 hours of video are uploaded YouTube site every minute. Amazing, no?
Startup incubators have grown in double digits in the last couple of years. Following the success of Ycombinator and TechStars, in recent years we have seen literally hundreds of regional incubators set up in the rest of the US and Europe, across campuses and within vertical industries, such as mobile or finance.
As every month, VC Cafe is re-posting the “Invest in Israel” Newsletter, published by the investment promotion center of Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, which offers many helpful tools for prospecting investors. See the June 2011 edition after the jump. For previous editions, click here.
Guest post by Tomer Targin: If the Internet was the new rock and roll, Jeff Bezos (Business Insider)…was its Elvis. I read this sentence a couple of weeks ago and it got me thinking - I found remarkable similarity and finally convinced myself. Fellow entrepreneurs, you are the new rock stars.
The latest Global Trends in Venture Capital report, compiled by the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) and Deloitte, asks the question: "Is a an active IPO market in your home country essential for the success of the venture capital industry in that market?"
VC Cafe is looking for guest posts and a full time blogger. Let me tell you why it is an interesting opportunity. Israel has the highest number of startups per capita, and the highest amount of VC investments per capita in the world ($142!). We at VC Cafe have been putting the spotlight on Israeli innovation and VC investments in Israel since 2005
Facebook Expands Credits Offers to Europe Via SupersonicAds - a huge deal for the Israeli startup, perhaps thanks to its UK office? AT&T set up new R&D and incubation center in Israel in collaboration with Amdocs - welcome AT&T Foundry. More headlines on this VC Cafe Bitesize Friday
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