During the week of May 4, 2008, Israel turned 60 and a few technology companies announced that they will be featured "Enterprises of Tomorrow" during the Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow taking place on May 13 to May 15, 2008. The Conference has been organized by Israeli President Shimon Peres and, as the title implies, will focus on the future.

Twenty-seven dignitaries including President Bush and former Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, will be on hand for the event, as will several tech luminaries, including Google Co-founder, Sergey Brin; and Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Yossi Vardi, perhaps Israel's greatest entrepreneur, is the Director of Science and Technology Track for the Conference and will lead one of the panels.

In anticipation for the Conference, which I will be attending on May 15th, this post as well as others to come this week will be in relation to the Conference, Israel's 60th and technology, and the 60 "Enterprises of Tomorrow." To get started, here are 10 headlines, mainly from the past week of May 4, 2008, that relate to some of Israel's "Enterprises of Tomorrow."

modu at the Presidential Conference

STMicroelectronics and Mobileye Deliver Second-Generation System-on-Chip for Vision-Based Driver Assistance Systems

AqWise Launches the Next Generation Remote N' Control(TM) Solution for Total Nitrogen Removal and Introduces Its AGAR® Process at IFAT 2008

Israel Cleantech Ventures closes $75m debut fund

Project Better Place debuts electric car

Comsys Selected as ‘Enterprise of Tomorrow’ to Feature at Israeli Presidential Conference

Updated fring version for iPhone (pre-release v. 0.9785)

Israel startup developing software system to identify terrorists

Camero Launches Handheld “Through-Wall Vision” Product

C-true Imaging - "Your Face is your key"


About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

This past week, wind turbine start-up, TechnoSpin announced that it raised $8 million. Leviathan Energy signed a letter of intent to provide energy for India worth $50 million and WorkLight, an Enterprise 2.0 company, announced that it raised $12 million. Not surprisingly, the Jerusalem Post website, reported that Israeli start-ups have raised the most capital in 7 years. Also, making the news was that Best Buy will be partnering with community-based, product help site, FixYa, and that Mashable.com, a blog that covers social networks, will be hosting MashBash for 800 people in Tel Aviv next month. Expected attendees will be from some of the hottest Israeli start-ups today and biggest international companies with offices in Israel. I plan on going, and so should you. For more details on this and the rest of this week's 17 Israel-related technology headlines, check out the list below.


Cleantech
Wind turbine start-up TechnoSpin raises $8m

Solel Solar on the Hunt for Newport Beach HQ Space

Leviathan Energy to provide clean electricity for India


M&A and Investments
Start-ups raise most capital in 7 years

BluePhoenix shares jump after 1Q results meet Street views

WorkLight Raises $12 Million


Information Technology
Application security co Applicure gets Trafalgar investment

Deloitte Consulting’s Lucian Lipinsky de Orlov to Lead Fortisphere Webinar on Virtualization Adoption

RoofArena Launches Beta Site; Interview with Shay Sharon

Best Buy buys into tech support 2.0

IBM setting up Israeli Lab for XIV


Miscellaneous
Jeff Pulver resigns as Pulvermedia chairman

Izzy Borovich sees Israel becoming "vacation state"

MashBash Tel Aviv and Israel Media Tour

Electric Nissans Planned in U.S. by 2010

"BusinessWeek" names Israel among innovation hotspots

Social networking meets search: Sightix



About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

This past week didn't see any new Israel-related IBM announcements. It did, however, see questions raised about the real potential of Project Better Place's electric cars and the release of the latest version of Unisfair's Virtual Events. Along the way, Red Bend Software raised $10 million and SanDisk announced a new 4-gigabyte USB flash drive that uses user-driven data management company, BeInSync. Check Point and Tel-Aviv University announced their plans to establish a new academic research institute for the study of information security. To find out more about these stories and what the rest of this week's 17 Israel-related technology headlines are, check out the list below.


Cleantech
SunHopes – Balloon Based Solar Energy

Who's Driving the Hydrogen Highway?

Tel Aviv University displays its cleantech potential [VIDEO]


M&A and Investments
Mobile software management provider Red Bend secured $10 million

The Golden Age of Israeli Startups: Mergers and Acquisitions (Part III)

VC survey: Money still flowing to green and biotech

Israel venture capital is nervous about US trends

Web Hosting and Management Services Group, TriZetto, to be Acquired by Apax


Information Technology
A Four-Gigabyte Thumb Drive With Two Safety Nets

Mellanox Announces ConnectX 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN on Motherboard Design Wins Across Supermicro’s Server Products

Gizmox widens Microsoft collaboration

Unisfair Releases Version 2.0 of Virtual Events

Check Point and Tel-Aviv University to Establish a New Academic Research Institute for the Study of Information Security


Miscellaneous
Startup aims to replace NOR flash in mobile devices

SanDisk R&D boss discusses memory card business

Israel Venture Association’s Annual Hi-Tech Conference 2008 Hits the Road

PineApp Named ‘Product of the Year’ Finalist for AeA High-Tech Innovation Awards

About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

This past week saw PLYmedia named Israel's most promising Internet start-up of 2008 by Microsoft, and HP unveil plans for startup incubation. The Internet was abuzz with Fring making unlocked iPhones now VoIP accessible and EyeBlaster's and Dapper's joining to do the mash... up. Oh yeah, and for those who missed my previous post, IBM continued its data storage solutions providers shopping spree, with its purchase of Diligent Technologies for an estimated $200 million. For a link to details on this latest acquisition and the rest of this past week's 24 Israel-related technology headlines, check out the list below.

Cleantech
3. Project Better Place

Water expo opens

Hollywood Premiere Of Award-Winning, New Documentary, "Water"


M&A and Investments
IBM buys Israel's Diligent

Venture Capitalists: U.S. Recession and Unstable Markets Will Slow Investing and Fundraising Activities, M&As and IPOs, KPMG Study Finds

Economy making venture capitalists cautious


Information Technology
TrusCont and CoakleyTech Announce the Launch of TrusCont Enhanced DVD-R Security Solution

Aternity Co-Founder & CTO Recognized as Leading Serial Entrepreneur by Distinguished Financial Journal

HP Israel unveils plans for startup incubation

World’s First Single-Chip, Multi-Message, Digital ChipCorder

Eyeblaster and Dapper Mash It Up Code Free


International
Microsoft names PLYmedia as Israel’s Most Promising Internet Startup of 2008

Israeli firms shine in Red Herring ratings

WorkLight selected AS A WINNER for the Red herring 100 Europe 2008

TruMedia's iCapture Wins Gold Medal at the Euro-Reklama Outdoor Expo


Telecom
Israel Wimax Pilot Moves to Next Stage

Motorola and FIRST Inspire Next Generation of Engineers

Israeli telecom firm Koor intends to buy stake in Tata Teleservice

iPhone gains VoIP with Fring


Miscellaneous
Interview with BluePhoenix Solutions' Chief Marketing Officer

Virtualization Start-Up to Present at Virtualization Conference & Expo in New York City

ClickSoftware to Automate Scheduling and Mobile Workforce Management for Rogers Cable Communications

Sentrigo Executes on all Fronts in 2007, Priming Database Security Leader for Continued Rapid Growth

BOS Announces Finalizing a Supply Agreement With a Major European Manufacturer in the Aircraft Industry Valued at Approximately $ 1.5 Million, for Supply Over 2 Years


About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

Once again, IBM gets the top mention in the Israel Innovation 2.0 Israel-related technology headlines. This time resulting from its announcement during the week of April 6 that it plans to purchase data protection and recovery company, FilesX. IBM also announced its usage of water cooling to create an energy efficient supercomputer. It wasn't the only green friendly news though; Jonathan Shapira (author of the Cleantech Investing in Israel blog) and Gene Dolgin, both of Israel Cleantech Ventures, recently created the Cleantech Israel group on Meetup.com and held its first event, which was informative and well-attended by Israelis and Israeli companies trying to break into the field. For more on these, the headlines related to major moves in IT and the full 22 Israel-related technology headlines from this past week, check out the list below.


Cleantech
Inter-ministry disputes hold up solar power plant

Cleantech industry networks in Israel

(Feature) Solar balloons to power remote areas?

Indian and Israeli Industries to Collaborate on Renewable Energy Technologies

Cleantech Group Reports Cleantech Investments Up 42 Percent in 1Q08 From Prior Year, Despite Recent Peak of Ethanol, Wind and Thin Film Solar Waves


M&A
IBM Picks Up Remote Data Backup Help

Amdocs buys Jacobs Rimmell for $45 million in cash

Kodak Completes Acquisition of Intermate A/S

Meter firm buys Israeli technology


Investments
IVC Research Center: Capital Raised by Israeli VCs

Imperva Raises $20m in Financing

Storewize Secures $19M


Information Technology
Eglue launches new CIM suite

Aternity Named ''Cool Vendor'' in IT Operations by Leading Industry Analyst Firm

Cisco leads coming out party for FCoE (Mellanox)

InstallFree promises easy desktop virtualization


In Israel
Toll-free numbers reach cell phones

New regulations expected to drive bank IT spending

Survey: weak dollar set to drive 15,000 technology-based job cuts in Israel


Miscellaneous

OpenSpan and Malam Team Enter Strategic Agreement to Build Enterprise Customer Care Solutions

IBM Uses Water Cooling to Create Energy Efficient Supercomputer

blinkx Draws Users in With aniBoom's Original Animations


About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

Israel Innovation 2.0's weekly Israel-related technology headlines are back by popular demand. What happened during the past week of March 30, 2008? There wasn't any news about any major investments and M&A (in Israel), but there sure was plenty of news about Israeli solar companies signing deals, Telecom announcing partnerships and Information Security... securing. This past week, it was revealed that sustainable energy stocks are lead by solar, Motorola unveiled a new Israeli-developed device and IncrediMail reported record revenues that increased 72% in 2007. To find out more about these stories and what the rest of this week's 21 Israel-related technology headlines are, check out the list below.


Cleantech
US Army fund seeks Israeli water tech

Solar Leads Sustainable Energy Stocks

Luz II signs deal with California energy giant

Solel to add solar facilities in Spain

'Green our lever to move Israel from 2nd to 1st World'


In Israel
Facebook, Google founders to attend Jerusalem conference in May

Economy added over 100,000 new jobs in 2007

Incubators in north and south excel


Telecom
Is you is or is you ain't WiMAX

Motorola unveils new Israeli developed device

Metalink Unveils Operating Expense Reduction Plan

InfoGin and Comverse in technology partnership

Motive and Red Bend Help Operators Overcome Barriers to Mobile and Converged Service Delivery


Information Security
Safend Provides New Data Leakage Prevention Offerings with Latest Release

Secure Enterprise 2.0 Forum Sets Course for the Future

Commtouch CEO to Present at America’s Growth Capital Information Security Conference at RSA


Miscellaneous
Elron Highlights AqWise and Galil Medical Developments

IncrediMail Reports Record Revenues, Increasing 72% in 2007

N-trig Hires New Vice President of Research, Development and Engineering

XFONE Completes Acquisition of Story Telecom, Inc.

Olive Software Announces Availability of ActiveMagazine 3.0, Next-Generation Digital Magazine

About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

Over the past few Fridays, I have been exploring water technology in Israel and giving examples of why this is an emerging field for Israel and Israeli companies. So far, I have briefly explained the origins of this field in Israel and listed some government and VC initiatives that are helping this field emerge. To complement last week's summary of current investment activities in Israel that will help make Israel known as the leader in water-technology solutions internationally, this week's edition will detail the technologies that Israel has applied and excelled in over the years.

To begin with, according to the WATEC website, Israel has come to stand out in recent years for having the:

* The world's largest RO (reverse osmosis) desalination plant
Located in Ashkelon, this plant is internationally recognized as the most advanced in seawater reverse osmosis. A synthetic membrane rejects salt while it passes fresh water at "reasonable flow rates and realistic pressures." Though this technology has been around since 1959 in the United States, in recent years it has been widely adopted by Middle Eastern countries, with Israel emerging at the forefront with its highly advanced plant that is run by IDE Technologies, Ltd. The plant has attracted attention for producing 100 million m3/year at one of the lowest prices in the world. In doing this, the plant produces around 13% of the country's domestic consumer demand – equivalent to 5–6% of Israel's total water needs.

Overall, the plant provides:
* adequate pre-treatment
* a high-pressure pump and an efficient energy recovery system
* a membrane assembly
* post treatment (if necessary)

* The world's most developed irrigation methods
66% of Israel is considered arid. The lack of water resources in these areas (mainly Southern Israel) has been the main inspiration for farmers to try new, innovative irrigation techniques to make the desert blossom. Probably Israel's field with the most advancements when it comes to water technology, drip irrigation is the main method used to conserve water while making sure that plants and and farming land get enough water. According to the Israeli Government's export Website,

"drip irrigation is the most efficient method as regards water saving. Since the drippers emit the water directly to the soil adjacent to the root system, which absorbs the water immediately, evaporation to the air is minimal. This effect is especially important under the conditions prevailing in arid zones."

Additionally, the Website goes on to explain that unlike other methods, drip irrigation "makes it possible to utilize saline water by eliminating direct contact between the water and the leaves, thus avoiding burns." It also "allows the use of sewage water because the water is delivered directly to the ground, minimizing health risks."

While desalination and drip irrigation are more mature water areas with established revenue streams that are growing, Israel's water industry is also becoming known for having "the world's highest reused wastewater rate," and "the world's most advanced national water management system." With Israel's continued focus on becoming the "Silicon Valley" of water technology title, several Israeli companies in these areas are starting to get heightened attention from both the media and investors. Don't miss next Friday's entry on which Israeli companies you should watch out for in this field in the next few years.

News
Last week, Gemini Israel Funds made the news as one of several investors who contributed to the new Israeli solar-energy start up that raised $9 million in funding, XJet, Ltd (see my post). For Gemini Israel Funds, the investment marks the second cleantech start up that it has added to its portfolio since August and signifies a new importance the company is putting on the future of cleantech.

Company Overview

Gemini Israel Funds was the first Israeli VC fund to be established from the Israeli government's Yozma program in 1993 after Israel high-tech and VC pioneer, Ed Mlavsky, agreed to manage the fund. According to Gemini's website, over the years, Gemini has focused on seed and early fund investments in areas of Communications such as Wireless Technologies, Enterprise Software, Internet, Consumer Electronics and Semiconductors, investing in companies such as RADLive, WeFi, Inc, IXI Mobile Inc, Adap.TV, Triana Inc, and OpTier Inc. Gemini has offices in Israel and Silicon Valley and manages funds totaling $550 million.

Analysis: Sun only beginning to shine on investing in Israel's cleantech sector

While cleantech still isn't a top priority for Gemini (it currently only has two cleantech companies in its portfolio), its recent cleantech investments have placed Gemini as a serious leader in cleantech venture capital community in Israel -- an area that is picking up steam with the coverage that companies such as XJet, Ltd and Project Better Place have been getting lately and the latest news that Al Gore has become a partner in the VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byerswill (KPCB) and will help the company find and invest in start-ups globally (including Israel).

Despite any potential future interest by KPCB, as more Israeli and international VC firms become active in Israel cleantech in the future, Gemini is poised to be little affected given its approach and its founding partner and Chairman, Ed Mlavsky.

According to a company self-description, "Gemini’s key contributions include an ability to make daring investment decisions and the capability to utilize past operational experience in assisting portfolio companies." The firm's willingness and ability to make "daring investment decisions," is a direct influence of Mlavsky.

Since his days at Tyco in the 1960s, Mlavsky has always embraced new technologies and has taken risks with them. While at Tyco (which he co-founded) he initiated the development and commercialization of a "novel photovoltaic technology" that he later oversaw as Executive Vice President of joint-venture Mobil Tyco Solar Energy Corporation. Risks such as that led Tyco to become the $40 billion company that it is today (and Gemini to have $550 million in funds). As such, it can be assumed that his attitude is what has sparked Gemini's early entrance into cleantech. Additionally, his experience (and solar-energy expertise) fulfills Gemini's "capability to utilize past operational experience in assisting portfolio companies" in cleantech, which, presumably, also gives the company a bit of a one up in the experience department over other Israeli VC firms entering cleantech.

However, although the cleantech industry is poised for great success, it is still a fledgling area and requires many obstacles to be lifted before any company will become a major global player and give Gemini and other VC firms the returns that they expect. Analysts predict that since this is a new area, big payoffs and mature cleantech startups aren't likely for several years.

This may take even longer as it is very unlikely that in the near future any cleantech start-up will be able to expand its market-share significantly in major markets such as the United States and China due to a lack of government incentives and payoffs in the former, and lax regulations in the latter. As both governments become increasingly pressured to make these changes, though, and even more opportunities open up, Gemini's business acumen should ensure that its cleantech companies will meet its expectations and eventually provide it with a nice ROI.

Additional Resources
Adap.tv
Overview of Gemini
Opportunities in Television
OpTier

Company Blogs
Ed Mlavsky: GOLB
Tali Aben
Daniel Cohen
Sagi Rubin
Ouriel Ohayon

Last Friday, in the first installment of this series, I mentioned that now is the time to invest in Israeli water technology. Below is a list of recent activities initiated by the Israeli government and VCs that are setting Israel up to emerge as the go-to global leader when it comes to water technology solutions:

Government Initiatives
-The Israeli government is dedicated to helping ventures in this field succeed and has interest in helping fund it. According to Haa'aretz, "the Ministry of Infrastructure is considering the possible introduction of private venture capital funds as partners in its cleantech ventures, in exchange for a share in the efforts."

-According to a JPost article on the WATEC conference, the Israeli National Infrastructures Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is working on deals to export its water technology to countries such as, China and Australia. China, faced with rapid population growth and 70% water pollution, and Australia, dealing with a more than a decade-long drought are both interested in Israel's desalination techniques.

-With the goal of doubling Israel's water technology exports to $2 billion by 2010, Globes recently reported, that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor launched a new water R&D program, Israel NEWTech - Novel Efficient Water Technologies. The new initiative will serve as an "umbrella organization for all Israeli entities operating overseas," by coordinating the "activities of ten government agencies, academic institutions, and additional authorities," while also working closely with the Israeli water industry and different water sectors, including irrigation, water security and desalination among others.

Venture Capitalist activity
-Earth2Tech provides a good summary of recent venture activity in Israel. The most important being, that Terra Venture Partners LP has raised $15 million and plans on investing in 10 startups, including Phoebus, a water heating company, and that Greylock Partners and Israel Cleantech Ventures are forming a joint platform for investment in early-stage cleantech startups.

-Israel's cleantech innovations have also attracted attention and investment from VC companies in other countries, including Japan's CSK Venture Capital, recently. According to the Invest in Israel website, CSK invested $15 million in Israel in 2007 and plans to invest another $80 million over the next two years.

Conclusion
While these actions ensure that certain things will be done in the future, it doesn't explain the key players in the water technology sector that will make this possible or what water technologies have been pioneered in Israel. Be sure to check back here next week for the next installment in this series.

The latest Israeli start-up to enter the cleatntech boom is XJet Ltd. The Globes is reporting that the company, currently operating in stealth mode, has raised $9 million from Gemini Israel Funds, Swiss investment fund Good Energies, Taiwanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Spirox and private investors. The company will focus on solar cell cost efficiency to help reduce costs and improve production.

It will be interesting to see which companies XJet, Ltd, will work with, specifically how many of them will be Israeli companies and how many projects will be done in Israel. While Israel still has a high dependency on fossil fuels for energy, a day when Israel is no longer reliant on it seems more conceivable lately with solar advancements such as this, Shai Agassi's Project Better Place and other recent cleantech advancements.

What are some economic benefits of using solar energy in Israel? According to an article on RenewableEnergyAccess.com a Greenpeace report presented to Israel's Ministry of Infrastructure in 2005 estimated that solar power stations in Israel could provide:
- a profit of NIS 810 million annually
- 5,000 new jobs
- and, solidify Israel's position as a world leader in the export of renewable technology to help combat climate change.