Invest in Israel Newsletter – June 2012 Edition. This month’s trend continues to be acquisitions of Israeli firms by large US corporates. Lots of returns are being made these days, but the latest CalPers report shows dissapointing returns by Israeli VC firms, with an IRR of 3.5%-3.8% to JVP and Carmel, the highest performing funds.
Last week I participated in the EU's Digital Agenda Assembly 2012 ("DAA12"), a speaker in the plenary session titled: "Delivering Internet-based innovation as a way out of the crisis: the role of Horizon 2020" and as a participant in the workshop on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. One of the things that struck me the most is how the narrative is changing from 'Austerity' to 'Growth'.
The UK has everything it needs to build great startups. Talent, money and ideas, the trinity of startup success, are all present in the UK.London has the largest venture capital and private equity industries in Europe. The city’s cultural vibe attracts global talent, and the UK enjoys far more public sector support than the US. So what’s holding back the UK from growing successful startups?
I've been fortunate to start a new role at Google as the Head of Campus, a unique co-working and event space, that Google set up in East London, in the heart of TechCity (worth repeating the 'disclaimer' that all opinions on this blog are my own).
On aggregate, putting a dollar into Israeli high-tech could yield you more than double the returns (if only these things worked on aggregate!). In the last decade, Israeli high-tech companies raised approximately $15 billion from investors, compared to more than $37 billion received in M&A and IPO exits, according to the latest IVC report.
In a world that suffers from content overload, personal recommendations are a bare necessity. Israeli startup Outbrain, one of the leading companies in the recommendations space, has completed a $35 million in Series D led by Index Ventures and joined by previous investors Carmel Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This brings Outbrain's funding to $64 million total since its inception in 2007.
Israeli startup BlazeMeter, a load testing in the cloud compatible with open source Apache Jmeter, has recently raised an undisclosed round from Yoav Leitersdorf’s YL Ventures. I’ve contacted Blazemeter’s CEO Alon Girmonsky, to learn more about the product and the load-testing…
Apple is in talks to acquire Israeli flash maker Anobit for a rumored $400-$500 million, according to a report by Calcalist. This would be Apple's first acquisition in Israel and if completed, Anobit and its 200 employees in Herzliya will become Apple's R&D center in Israel.
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. For the Invest in Israel archive, click here. Below are the…
The following is an interview held on stage at the main event of E&Y’s Journey event. Dick Kramlich is an old school businessman who has been active in venture capital since 1969 with Arthur Rock and Co. He has co-founded…
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