The LinkedIn IPO this week may have opened the gates for an Israeli market thirsty for exits, but in the meanwhile, VC funding in Israel continues with business as usual. Below are three recent founding rounds in Israeli venture-backed companies. Onavo, Kaminario and VideoSurf are three recent examples of venture-backed Israeli startups that have raised funding.
10 things VCs can do to differentiate themselves and provide more value to potential investments - based on feedback from dozens of entrepreneurs. So what makes one VC fund be better perceived than others?
, on more than one occasion I encountered a VC saying that the eCommerce model doesn’t have a “VC feel” to it. Huh? What were they missing? Why weren’t they seeing what I was seeing? Hadn’t they heard about the recent funding rounds from Ecommerce companies Groupon and LivingSocial? Since then, and after resting aside my ego, I placed myself back in my VC shoes to try to understand what “proof” such VCs needed to feel comfortable with an eCommerce investment.
GeekMedia, the company behind the Israeli blog NewsGeek (Hebrew) has launched VentureGeeks, a new incubator program in Israel, which will provide seed funding and mentorship to Israeli startups. The Tel-Aviv based incubator is meant to serve as an accelerator program for startups, following the model of US based Y Combinator. Startups which are admitted to the program will receive up to $20,000 in pre-seed funding, office space, administrative services and advice from a group of mentors. The cost for startups is 10% of their equity.
VC investors rely heavily on referrals, but what should a non US startup do when looking to raise funding in Silicon Valley? I found a question on Quora that relates to European startups, but found that some of the advice may be very relevant to Israeli startups as well. How best can European startups land VC funding in the US / Sillicon Valley?
The latest VentureDeal quarterly report is out (see pdf) and it suggests that VC activity in tech has slowed down in the third quarter. Overall, 343 US companies raised $1.8 billion in venture capital funding in Q3 2010, representing a 14% decline in total funding amount compared to the previous quarter. The number of companies funded has also declined by 6%.
The VC funding news from Israel are piling up on my inbox. Is it because there are more worthy companies for investment all of a sudden, or are VCs driven by the need to deploy some of their capital before the end of the calendar year?
Today, seed funding in Israel got a little boost with the launch of the first Israeli Super Angel Seed Fund (or a so-called "Micro Venture Capital Fund") with $25 million in funding, Started by Avi Domoshevizki, Sani Sanilevich, Ofer Arieli and Saeed Amidi.
This year alone, the Dollar dropped 20% against the Shekel, causing startups to run out of money quicker than what they expected. In the article “Start-ups stuck in winter doldrums“, Globes interviews Erez Shachar, a managing partner at Evergreen Venture…
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