Zeev Holtzman, founding partner of Giza Venture Capital and founding member of the Israel Venture Association (IVA), cautioned that “Israel’s venture capital and startup industry is heading for collapse. The industry, which is the economy’s growth engine, is liable to be irreversibly damaged", in a recent interview to the Venture Capital Journal
This post takes a look at 10 Israeli startups funded in the last year. The descriptions of the startups are self reported. 1) Caftor (button in Hebrew) Caftor is two things: 1) a platform for connecting the real world with…
According to the MoneyTree Report produced by PWC, Venture-backed companies raised $342 million in the first quarter of 2011, a dramatic 102% increase from the $170 million raised in the equivalent period in the previous year.
For the third consecutive year, Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist put together a list of the top 50 startups in Israel (in Hebrew). VC Cafe took note to bring you the full list of top 50 Israeli startups in English: PowerMat, Broadlight, Conduit, PrimeSense, Objet, Kenshoo, Imperva, Anobit, DoubleVerify, Wix, SuperDerivatives, AeroScout, Siano, Waze, TaKaDu, ExLibris, SolarEdge, Adsmarket, (Matomy), dbMotion, RADWIN, cVidya, Boxee, N—trig, Cotendo, Varonis, Kontera, Outbrain, RedBend, Mobixell, Celeno, AMIMON, Pontis, Gigya, Clarizen, Mobileye, Celtro, Altair, Amobee, WhiteSmoke, Cyber—Ark, OpTier, Wanova, ConteXtream, eXelate, Peer39, Netformx, Tradonomi (eToro), Surf, Zend, Soluto
AcceloWeb, an Israeli startup formerly known as Fasterweb, has been acquired by Limelight Networks (Nasdaq:LLNW) for undisclosed terms. Acceloweb develops technology that helps increase the load time of websites, a need that has been growing as applications migrate to the cloud. Following the deal Acceloweb will become Limelight's development center in Israel.
With six first investment deals Evergreen Venture Partners was the most active VC fund in Israel in 2010, according to the latest IVC Research Center report. The second place was shared by Battery Ventures Israel and Pontifax, with five investments each.
Wix, the Israel-based flash website platform, has announced a D round of $40 million. The new investors in the round are Insight Venture Partners and DAG ventures who joined previous investors Benchmark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners that also participated in the round.
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?
For the second year in a row, Seedcamp is coming to Tel Aviv on February 16 2011, at the Afeka College of Engineering. Internet technology start ups in Israel should apply *for free* on this link: Apply to Seedcamp Tel Aviv.
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