Friday, July 22, 2011

Israel is Not Isolated/Boycotted

Straight from the Jerusalem Boardroom #154
Yoram Ettinger, "Second Thought: A US-Israel Initiative"
July 22, 2011
http://t.co/oVfZE9L

1. Is Israel isolated/boycotted? Is time running out on the Jewish State? On the contrary – time is on Israel's side: From a $1BN GDP in 1949, Israel surged to a $240BN economy, rated among the top OEDC economies. Recently, the rising economic powers of the globe, China, Brazil and (especially) India, significantly expand trade with Israel; Europe appoints Israelis to head its high-technology commissions; China lobbies to get Israel's expected export of natural gas; Europe, the former USSR and the Third Word seek cooperation with Israel's medical, agricultural, scientific and technological sectors; Israel is the fourth largest defense exporter in the world; Israel's export is increasingly based on unique niches in the vial areas of health, medical devices, pharmaceutics, biomed, telecommunications, energy alternatives, water, agriculture and the Internet; overseas investment in Israel surge, etc. 2. $569MN invested in Israel's (145) high tech companies during the 2nd quarter of 2011, a 19% increase over the 1st quarter and a 66% increase over the 2nd quarter of 2010 (Globes Business Daily, July 21, 2011). 261,000 persons (8.4% of Israel's business sector) employed by Israel's high tech industries (243,000 in 2009) – which is responsible for 16% of Israel's GDP according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (Globes, July 19).

3. GE made its 9th Israeli acquisition, acquiring LightTec for $17MN (July 21). The Norcross, GA-based $400MN S1 Corp merged with Israel's $300MN FundTech (Globes, June 28).

4. The Palo Alto (Silicon Valley)-based Accel Partners features 20 Israeli companies in its investment portfolio (Globes, July 12). Japan's Mitsui Global Investment, Taiwan's Pegatron and the Evanston, IL-based Amiti Ventures led a $14MN 2nd round by Israel's Valence (Globes, July 7). The Bethesda-based Novak Biddle, the Stratford, CT-based Portview Communications Partners and Stage One Fund invested $11MN in Israel's FiberZone (Globes, July 12). The London-based Index Ventures and the Menlo Park Bessemer Partners Venture led a $10MN round in Israel's Soluto (Globes, June 27). The $7.5BN NY-based Len Blavatnik invested $9.5MN in Israel's Get Taxi and the $14BN Ft. Lauderdale-based Citrix invested $2.5MN in Israel's Gizmox, aiming to acquire the company (Globes, July 22). The Menlo Park-based Andreessen Horowitz invested $8.5MN in Israel's Capriza (Globes, July 19). Intel Capital led a $7MN 3rd round of private placement by Israel's Omek Interactive (Globes, July 14). Google's Chairman, Eric Schmidt's, Innovation Endeavors VC Fund made its 3rd Israeli investment - $1MN in DoNanza (Globes, June 30).

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