Opportunities presented by the "Start Up Nation"
Israel has become a brand name for innovation and advanced technologies as well as a magnet forTech hungry global companies that are constantly searching for the next big idea and technology solutions.
Motivated by an array of critical challenges, Israel is known to be a power house for technology innovations, and generating startups in a wide range of industries including Medical, water solutions, Cleantech and renewable energy, software and communications, home land security and more. The financial world is eager to capitalize on the potential of the thriving developments in hi-tech in Israel, "The Start-Up Nation." Israel is ranked 2nd in the world for Venture Capital availability (IMD Yearbook 2007).
Industry Snapshots:
Life Science
Israel's thriving Life Sciences industry is world renowned for its groundbreaking innovations, Ingenuity and creativity. It is home to over 900 Life Science companies, with 50-60 new companies being formed each year. Israel is 1st in the world for Medical Device patents per capita and 4th in Bio-Pharma (USPTO). 41% of all Life Sciences companies operating in Israel today were established during the last 5 years and over 1/3 of all LS start-ups are already generating revenue.
Multinationals including J&J, Perrigo, GE Healthcare and Phillips Medical, together with local companies such as Teva, Given Imaging, Insightec, Medinol, Disc-o-tech, Brainstorm and others, have been at the global forefront in the development and marketing of life-changing medical breakthroughs and valuable innovations.
Communication and IT
Israeli companies have traditionally been at the forefront of the global Communications industry.
60 years of innovation in civilian and military applications have resulted in the emergence of several world renowned communication powerhouses in Israel, along with hundreds of smaller tech companies and over 1,000 active Israeli communications start-ups.
Of the approximately 2,000 Israeli start-up companies in 2007, 50% were in Communications. Communications exports in 2007 accounts for 23% of Israel’s Hi-Tech exports and 8% of The country’s total exports.
Over half of the 120 foreign R&D centers operating in Israel, develop Communications Technologies. Among them are multinationals such as Cisco, IBM, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Google , Yahoo and Motorola Israel (MIL).
Israel is ranked 2nd in the world for Venture Capital availability (IMD Yearbook 2007) with Communications receiving the most of any sector with 21% of the VC investments (IVC On-line 2008).
Agro-Technology
From innovative irrigation systems to new products such as the Cherry tomato and improved quality of fruit and vegetables, Israel has emerged as a significant global innovator of cutting edge agricultural advancements and a worldwide model for the efficient use of water, land and human capital.
Approximately $90 million has been invested annually in research and development.
The growing awareness of the importance of ecologically-oriented agriculture has led to the development of "green" fruit, grown with minimal use of chemicals to avoid interfering with the ecosystem or harming the environment.
The Trendlines Group
Trendlines Group is an Israeli investment company that is focused on seed-stage companies .
As a seed-stage investors they are identifying, investing in, developing, and nurturing innovation-based opportunities in the life sciences (medical devices, biotech and pharma); and in Greentech™ (cleantech and agro-tech).
Trendline invests principally through the platform of Israeli government-licensed incubators, a unique environment for establishing and nurturing early stage companies. The companies in these incubators operate under the office of the Government Chief Scientist and went through a selection process and due diligence that checked the viability of their products and business plans.
Their main target in this tour is to raise capital . R&D cooperation would be a by-product. Trendline is an investment company and acts as their business consultant. On this road show each company will do its own pitch and investors will allocate their funds to the companies of their choice.
The Misgav and Mofet incubators each operate under license from the government. We are committed to investing in a certain number of companies each year and providing the physical facilities to house these companies as well as to provide other sorts of support. Each of our incubator portfolio companies is approved for investment by the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor. Upon completion of the Trendlines and government diligence and approval process, the government provides contingent grants to each company. The grant program shares many characteristics with the OCS R&D program.
Trendlines level of support goes far beyond that which is required by the government. Trendlines has a staff of 27 people providing business development support, marketing communications, bookkeeping, investment banking and much more for our companies. We believe that the more support we provide to our companies, the more successful they can be. For More information please visit:
