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.

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.

Israel as the first gasoline-free economy sounds pretty far off to anyone who has walked down a major street in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem lately and was showered with soot from an old public transit bus passing by, but it is in the works. Former Israeli whizkid and SAP Chief of Products, Shai Agassi, who left the company in March with plans "to help convert his native Israel and its neighbor Jordan into gasoline-free economies with nationwide electronic transportation systems," has raised $200 million for his stealth-mode company, Project Better Place to make electric cars and to use existing battery technologies, which are enough to get cars to go about 100 miles before recharging.

According to the news release, the company has received funding from Israel Corp., an Israel-based oil, trade and shipping conglomerate (which invested $100 million), and VantagePoint Venture Partners among others.

This announcement is impressive considering 9 months ago he was still working hard at SAP and talking about plans for SAP to go green. Hear his thoughts on the environment and SAP below in a video interview of him from the World Economic Forum at Davos this past January.

Snorkelers of the world-renowned coral reefs in the Red Sea off of Israel have been getting a different view of the sea's marine life lately. Over the summer, a team of Israeli and Jordanian researchers placed an artificial coral reef made of specially designed concrete near the natural reefs in an attempt to prevent the destruction of the reefs by divers, while still allowing them and others to see the coral life. So far, the reef has already attracted over 20 species of fish.

The work and research that went into this project represents part of a greater trend of Israelis taking more interest in protecting and preserving the environment. In addition to preserving sea life, finding solutions for the world's 2 billion-plus population that doesn't have access to fresh water and using water as an energy source have also become a focus in Israel's technology community. Showcasing this trend will be the 2007 Water Technologies and Environmental Control (WATEC) Israel conference in Tel Aviv on October 30 - November 1st in which Israel's solutions and innovations for water-related issues will be discussed and presented to an international audience.

According to the website, "Israel is poised to play a major role in supplying the world with cutting-edge water and environmental solutions." The site then goes on to list such reasons as Israel having the world's highest reused wastewater rate, the world's most developed irrigation methods, and the world's largest RO desalination plant.

With sponsors and exhibitors such as Netafim, Yissum, Auqatech, Dorot Water Technologies and Ormat Systems, Ltd., and the conference's goal to bring together the international research and business communities to stimulate debate and discussion, this conference promises to be the cornerstone of innovations in the water-industry over the next few years.

Note: Images are from thediver.co.il.