"The Venture Capital Conference was the most worthwhile event I have attended in the past five
years." So summarized one of the 60 investors who attended the WolfBlock/Trendlines Venture Conference.
What They Said about the Conference
"Congratulations on organizing an outstanding Israeli Technology Venture Conference in Philadelphia last
week. The presentations by the individual CEOs were excellent…" Barry R. Bronfin, General Partner,
Axiom Venture Partners
"The event went beyond our expectations ... the mix of VCs, and their ratio to
presenting companies, was especially refreshing compared to similar events. Thanks for a great event!" Dor Skuler, VP Business Development, Safend
"I would like to thank you and the whole Trendlines team on a great job and a fruitful cooperation
with the high-tech division at IEICI." Amit Scheinmann, Executive, Start-Up Division,
Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute
"The venture capital conference was the most worthwhile event I have attended in the past five
years." Bill Landsburg, private investor associated with Dotan Technologies (a holding company consisting
of several early-stage Israeli technology companies)
"I
want to thank you for the very impressive event you have put on." Gil Sever, CEO, Safend
"I wanted to express my thanks to you and the WolfBlock team for a fruitful and well organized
event, as well as for your warm hospitality. Joseph Kowen, CEO,
I-Dent Imaging
"Thank you very much for the great hospitality and a very good conference." Ari Asher, VP Business
Development, Hadas DSP
Thanks for the extraordinary opportunity you gave us at WizCom to participate in the 'Ivy
League' venture conference you guys have worked so hard to organize. Amit Ben-Zvi, CEO,
WizCom Technologies
Last but not least ... the mayor of the City of Philadelphia issued a proclamation on November
10, 2004 (the day of the conference) that stated in part that "the City of Philadelphia is proud
to support the 2004 WolfBlock/Trendlines Israel Venture Conference. ... This historic event is a first
for Philadelphia, bringing together emerging and growth-stage Israeli tech companies, Mid-Atlantic
regional venture capital firms and angel investors."
The Conference, held on Wednesday, November 10, brought together the representatives
of 23 Israeli companies with some 60
U.S. investors. Divided
into three tracks — life
sciences, info tech, and homeland security— the conference gave the Israeli companies
direct access to close to 30 venture funds and a similar number of angel and corporate investors — all
of whom have an appetite for Israeli deal flow.
Organized by The Trendlines Group and the Philadelphia law firm WolfBlock, with
the Israel Export
and International Cooperation Institute, the conference was designed to give the Israeli participants
the opportunity to meet, in a single venue, numerous potential investors. (See more
about the conference sponsors.) And while it
is usually difficult to identify those U.S. investors willing to venture offshore, in this case the
60 investors were all pre-qualified and open to investing in Israeli companies.
Conference Structure
The day-long conference was divided into three main sessions.
The morning session was devoted to presentations about issues related to raising capital in the
United States; a panel of nine investors, representing both institutional and private investors,
spoke about what they look for in evaluating portfolio companies. An unabashedly
upbeat keynote presentation was made by Charlie
Federman, managing director of BRM Capital, whose bottom line was that there
has never been a better time to invest in Israel than now.
The afternoon session was divided into three tracks, with each Israeli company given 20 minutes
to present itself and its opportunity. Up to 20 investors
were present in each of the three rooms to listen to the presentations. Because investors received
company information in advance, many of them were observed moving between rooms to hear the companies
that most interested them.
The day ended with a networking reception sponsored
by Wolf Block and attended by more than 150 people.
While we were very excited by the number of participants, the question on everyone’s
mind is, will any deals come out of the conference? While it is probably too early to say, we do
know of several oral commitments that were made at the conference, and we have also heard from a
number of the investors who are following up with the companies that they
met. (Based on the success of this conference, the
sponsors are now considering hosting a similar conference geared to life sciences in mid-June 2005.)
Perhaps the day was best summarized by Amit Ben-Zvi, the CEO of Jerusalem-based WizCom
Technologies,who described the program as an "extraordinary opportunity" and
the "Ivy League" of
venture conferences.
For more than 100 years, WolfBlock has helped entrepreneurial companies
to flourish. They have a developed proficiency in assisting companies from conception through the venture capital stage and into a public offering or exit sale. With seven offices in the Mid-Atlantic region (and more than 300 lawyers) covering the geographic corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C., their smaller clients benefit from an unusual combination: the sophisticated resources of a leading law firm coupled with a culture of servicing the unique needs of rising entrepreneurial companies.
WolfBlock's unique commitment to Israel is defined by proven expertise, close ties to the Israeli business community, and a deep understanding of the business and legal needs of Israeli companies working in the United States.
The Trendlines Group is Israel's leading international marketing and business development firm, moving businesses from concept to market to success. The company's unique focus is on assisting businesses of all sizes looking to start or expand their operations in the American, European, and Israeli marketplaces.
The Israel Export & International Cooperation
Institute, supported by over 2,600 member firms, private sector bodies, and the government of Israel, advances business relationships between Israeli exporters and overseas businesses and organizations. By providing a wide range of export-oriented services to Israeli companies and complementary services to the international business community, the Institute helps build successful joint ventures, strategic alliances, and trade partnerships.
FundingPost has worked with thousands of angel and venture capital investors and entrepreneurs. With over 3,000 CEOs and 500 venture funds attending events in 15 cities across America, a quarterly DealFlow magazine, and a deal-exchange website that has, on average, seen an introduction of an investor to an entrepreneur every business day since its inception, FundingPost believes that it is important to reach investors in every medium possible.
