The Israel Venture Association (IVA) announced today that its
annual High-Tech and Venture Capital Conference will be held on June
10 - 11, 2007 at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. IVA
further announced that it has partnered with the Red Herring business
and technology magazine to co-manage the Conference panels and the
"Start-up of the Year" competition. Conference speakers will include
prominent industry leaders from Israel, the US, Europe and Asia. Many
international investors from around the world are expected to attend.
"In just over a decade, the Israeli technology industry has
established itself as a global hub of innovation, with extraordinary
entrepreneurial spirit and significant investor interest from all over
the world," said Conference Co-Chairmen Eddy Shalev, General Partner
and Founder of Genesis Partners, and Eli Barkat, General Partner and
Founder of BRM Capital, "We expect that the industry experience that
was developed during this period will drive an acceleration in both
the quantity of successful start-ups and, even more importantly, the
quality and magnitude of the successes."
The theme for this year's event is "Start Up Big!" and it will
focus on Building Large Companies with a stimulating program that
includes how to better leverage Israeli innovations to create larger
companies, what this means to Israeli entrepreneurs/VC's and LPs,
local and global case studies, which sectors to invest in,
CleanTech and other emerging sectors with the potential to impact the
industry. In addition, the Conference will include focused breakout
sessions on Networking and Home Networking, Web 2.0 & 3.0, new models
for Enterprise Software, Medical Devices and Biotech as well as Gaming
and Digital Media.
As a Conference highlight, Red Herring Magazine has partnered with
the IVA in organizing the "Start-up of the Year" contest. The
competition will honor the best start-ups of 2007 in the categories of
Software & Internet, Semiconductor & Communications, and Life
Sciences. In addition, a special IVA committee will elect the IVA
Persons of the Year in the following categories: the most significant
contribution to the Israeli high-tech and venture capital industry,
the leading technology entrepreneur, and the venture capitalist who
has prominently contributed to the community. Representatives of the
IVA and Red Herring will present the awards to the winning start-ups
in each category of the start-up competition and the IVA Person of the
Year awards.
According to Dr. Orna Berry, Chairperson of the IVA, "We are
observing a trend in the Israeli entrepreneurial landscape where more
and more entrepreneurs are focused on building global category leaders
right from the get go. Building large companies is a national
challenge, which will change the face of Israel's economy and advance
the Israeli edge in global competition."
About the IVA
The Israeli Venture Association (IVA) was founded in 1996 in
response to the development of the high-tech industry and venture
capital activity in Israel. The IVA is a broad based organization
representing diverse aspects of the venture capital industry in
Israel, including all the major VC funds and other venture investors,
service providers, and technological incubators. Since the
establishment of the government's Yozma ("initiative") program, which
served as the catalyst for the creation of an active VC community,
Israeli VCs continue to lead efforts to make Israel a true source of
technological innovation. For more information about the IVA, please
visit www.iva.co.il.
About Red Herring
Red Herring, Inc. is a global media company which unites the
world's best high technology innovators, venture investors and
business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation
magazine, a daily online technology news service, technology
newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe.
Red Herring provides an insider's access to the global innovation
economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies
driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available
on the Internet at www.redherring.com.