The special US-Israel Two-Way Street

Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative”

1. Four Israeli universities are included among the top 30 computer science universities in the world (US – 20 universities, Canada – 2, UK – 2, Switzerland – 1, Hong Kong – 1), according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, a publication compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University – one of the three most influential rankings.

2. George Gilder, Chairman of the Great Barrington, MA-based Gilder Fund Management and Gilder Cremers Fund, author of “The Israel Test”:

“Israel cruised through the recent global slump with scarcely a down quarter and no deficit or stimulus package…in an array of leading-edge technologies. It is the global master of microchip design, network algorithms and medical instruments… Israel is incontestably the world leader in water recycling and desalinization… Israel is also making major advances in longer-range missile defense, robotic warfare, and unmanned aerial vehicles that can stay aloft for days… It raised its exports 19.9% in 2010’s fourth quarter and 27.3% in the first quarter of 2011. Israelis supply Intel with many of its advanced microprocessors, from the Pentium and Sandbridge, to the Atom and Centrino. Israeli companies endow Cisco with new core router designs and real-time programmable network processors for its next-generation systems. They supply Apple with robust miniaturized solid state memory systems for its iPhones, iPods and iPads, and Microsoft with critical user interface designs for the OS7 product line and the Kinect gaming motion-sensor interface, the fastest rising consumer electronic product in history…

U.S. defense and prosperity increasingly depend on the ever-growing economic and technological power of Israel. If we stand together we can deter or defeat any foe… We need Israel as much as it needs us (Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2011).

3. The $1.25BN West Lake Village, CA-based ValueClick acquired Israel’s Dotomi for $295MN (Globes, Aug. 4). The $2.5BN Boston-based Great Hill Partners acquired Israel’s Plimus for $115MN (Globes, Aug. 9).

4. The Baltimore-based JMI Equity, Bloomberg Capital, the San Francisco-based First Round Capital, ComCast’s VC fund, Genacast and the Menlo Park-based Institutional Venture Partners participated in a $33MN 3rd round of private placement by Israel’s DoubleVerify (Globes, August 31). Denmark’s Saxo Bank acquired 25% of Israel’s online broker’s solutions company, Leverate, for $12.5MN (Globes, July 29). Japan’s Fujitso Fund and FinTech Fund participated in a $12MN round by Israel’s Asocs. Additional investors are expected to follow George Gilder’s Gilder Cremers, which participated in the previous round (Globes, August 31). The Palo Alto-based Greylock Ventures and the Menlo Park-based Opus Capital participated in a 2nd round by Israel’s Wanova (Globes, Aug. 24). The Menlo Park-based Sequoia Capital and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Venture led a $9.5MN 3rd round by Israel’s Innovid (Globes, August 31). The Menlo Park US Venture Partners, Santa Clara-based Webb Investment, San Francisco-based WI Harper and Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors invested $4MN in Israel’s Quixey. Schmidt also invested in Israel’s Gogo-Boots, EyeView and AnyDo (Globes, August 30). Johnson & Johnson invested a few million dollars in a 3rd round by Israel’s LifeBond (Globes, Aug. 9). The Munich-based Atlantic Capital Partners invested $2.2MN in the 2nd round of Israel’s GreenSql (Globes, August 11).