Insights & News /  High Tech

StartUp Open competition for start-ups is underway and companies are narrowing down. From near to hundred companies, which entered the competition, the judges have selected seven finalists to move forward and partake in the final event of the national competition that will take place on September 22nd , 2014 in Jerusalem. Michael Barnea, Managing Partner from Barnea Co, said, "As part of our long standing relationship with the Israeli entrepreneurial community, Barnea is proud to be a part of this  StartUp Open competition.  At the semi-final we identified a number of promising and innovative ventures and I am looking forward to pick out the winning start up at the finals. The wide spectrum of business ideas and industries represented by the final candidates are the talented and creative Israel start-up and hi-tech industry."

There is no doubt that the Protective Edge Operation has had a material adverse impact on economic activities in Israel. The rocket attacks on communities in southern and central Israel reduced dramatically the revenues of businesses, hurt the tourism and vacation industries, and forced many companies to cope with absences of employees who were called up for active reserve duty. Business as usual? Nevertheless, it appears that the Israeli high-tech industry proceeded more or less with business as usual, as if high-tech is the “steadfast cliff” of the local economy. Even during last month, when the inferno in Gaza was at its worst and Israel found itself subject to venomous criticism throughout the world, the robust international activities in the Israel technological sector continued. International merger and acquisition transactions of Israeli technology companies did not stop and public offerings of Israeli high-tech companies on NASDAQ continued. One should not misconstrue the continuing global activities by Israeli high-tech companies as a reflection of support of the Israeli government’s policy in Gaza or as recognition of its right to protect itself from the barrage of Hamas rockets. The factor driving this activity is, first and foremost, the robust demand for Israeli technology, a demand that is hardly affected by political considerations. There are two additional factors that contribute to the Israeli high-tech industry’s imperviousness to the impact of the events of the Protective Edge Operation. One factor is the fact that the majority of the commercial activities by Israeli high-tech companies is not in the local market. Though, in many instances, the development is located in Israel, the target markets and the vast majority of the sales are global. Therefore, the drop in the local demands has no material impact on the business activities of Israeli technology companies. The second factor, which is more complex and fragile, is the sense that the fighting in Gaza is not creating a substantive threat to Israel’s security. As long as it is evident that the threat to personal safety in central Israel is marginal, if not negligible, the technology sector can project a sense of “business as usual”. The operation of the Iron Dome systems reinforces this sense of security. Nevertheless, one must take into account that this sense of security could be extremely fragile. The temporary halting of flights to Israel by foreign companies, as a result of a rocket falling in Yehud, provided clear evidence as to how quickly the situation could change. There was a good reason for the intensive political efforts to resume flights. Were it not for the decision to resume air travel with Israel within 24 hours, it is doubtful whether the atmosphere of normalcy could have been sustained. For anyone who needs a reminder of the possible correlation between personal safety and routine activity in the technology sector, one merely needs to recall the period of the Second Intifada. At the beginning of the 2000s, the suicide attacks caused visitors from overseas to stay away from Israel. Even though the technology sector was also suffering from the impact of the technology bubble burst during those same years, one cannot disregard the impact of the security threat on the recession that also hit the Israeli high-tech industry at that time. In light of this, while we can look with pride and some amazement at the continuing business activity in the Israeli technology sector, we must keep in mind that it is never impervious. The continuation of the Protective Edge Operation or an expansion of the military operations into central Israel is liable to have a material adverse impact on the high-tech industry as well. The author, Michael Barnea, is the Managing partner at Barnea Co.

Barnea represented Spirent Communications PLC., a leading communications technology company, traded on the London Stock Exchange, and its Israel subsidiary, in the purchase of Radvision’s and Avaya’s Technology Business Unit for approximately USD 25 million. 

In the last interviews on the radio given by Micky Barnea, he stated that the Israeli high tech hasn't been influenced significantly by the recent event. Listen to the full interview at Galatz.

Start up open final event will take place on September 22nd , 2014 in Jerusalem.  This competition provided start-ups, in their early stages, a chance to develop their ideas and present them to entrepreneurs and judges.

The seminar, organized by ESOP-Excellence and Startau, included in depth lectures on employee options plans. Ezra lectured on practical problems in administering options plans based on his many years of experience as general counsel to technology companies.

The Israeli winner of the competition, BreezoMeter, was invented to make air pollution visible. Using real time big data analysis BreezoMeter presents air quality information at street level resolution. (Picture) BreezoMeter ran in the finals in front of six other companies, and will automatically enter the list of the World's Top 50 Most Promising Startups, known as the GEW50. The final competition was held in Jerusalem, in the presence of Jerusalem MayorNir Barkat, investment entities, entrepreneurs, startups, high-tech executives. Michael Barnea, Managing Partner from Barnea Co, said, "I am delighted at the opportunity Barnea has had to take part in this special event. With our experience in working with entrepreneurs in all phases of incorporation, raising capital and launching technology and life science startups, we were able to contribute is considering and selecting the contestants in the competition. Thus we were able to allow the next generation of entrepreneurs theopportunity to present their ideas and receive international exposure". StartUp Open was originally launched as part of the Kauffman Foundation in 2010 and is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. It is the world's largest competitions for startup companies, boosting participation from over 30 countries.

Global Invacom Group Ltd.  of the United Kingdom entered into an agreement to acquire OnePath Networks Ltd. of Bet Shemesh, Israel. Barnea represented Global Invacom in the transaction.

This has not gone unnoticed by foreign multinational companies. A study by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics shows that 63% of all investments in RD centers in Israel come from international technology companies operating in Israel. More than 67% of all employees in RD centers in Israel are employed by foreign companies who have established research centers, such as Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, HP and more. Such companies employ no less than 34.3 thousand employees in RD, with an annual increase of 2%. The presence of these corporate giants in Israel is growing, as many more companies understand the benefits and success they could have by placing their RD centers in the hotbed of innovation and invention. These outstanding figures are irritating to some, as the growth in the RD centers gives the foreign companies firstbid at breakthrough technologies. Science, Technology, and Space Minister Yaakov Peri went as far as saying that “Israel’s economy relies heavily on funding from other countriesfor research and development…this is a fragile situation…in which the main beneficiaries of Israeli creativity are the multinational companies.” But there’s another way to look at it. These centers are effectively nurturing the best and the brightest, training them and serving as incubators for budding entrepreneurs. Many of these employees leave the multinational companies ready to start their own start-ups, armed with the considerable skillset, knowledge, and experience acquired at these RD centers. Furthermore, having foreign RD centers and multinationals in Israel has proven to be a source for creating jobs, spawning new business and contributing to economic output.

Barnea and The MIT Enterprise Forum of Israel is delighted to invite you to a unique seminar: Time to Start-Up! Follow the Challenging Road. The event will take place on 19th November 2014, 16:30 - 20:15 at the Tel Aviv University.

As an expert in the technology field, Micky Barnea was invited to lead the high-tech panel at the Israel’s 2nd Foreign Law Firms Conference. The panel: Start-Up Nation Vs. Exit Nation will deal with the effect of startup nation on the Israeli legal scene, the current trends in high-tech exit transactions, IPO's and the interface between Israeli and foreign law firms in high-tech legal work.

The recent liberalisation of Israel’s legal market may lead to an influx of foreign advisers as well as the expansion of the domestic elite, excited by the prospect of heightened deal activity.

Israel is proud of its water industry. It is an Industry that is based on limited resources and growing needs of the domestic water market, the global thirst for water solutions in all areas and the global reputation of companies that deal with Israeli water technology. Israel is also known for its technological industries. The local industry was based upon proven capabilities for initiating, financing, growth and realization of the companies in all areas of technology and life sciences. 

The firm represented MobeeArt Ltd, a software start-up developing breakthrough technology for creating mobile websites, in an investment round totaling about $ 1 million.

Following the successful launch of MarginProbe System, which received Pre-Market Approval (PMA) from the FDA early last year, Dune Medical Devices Ltd. has successfully completed the first of a two stage USD21 million equity financing.

Barnea represented Glasshouse Technologies Inc. in its sale of all of the outstanding shares of its subsidiary Glasshouse Technologies Ltd. (an Israeli company) to Taldor Communications Ltd. for a purchase price of approximately US $6,750,000.

Barnea represented Ivory Computers Ltd., a private Israeli retailer leading company engaged in marketing and selling of computers, peripheral device to computers and entertaining electronics, and its founders in a transaction with Premium (PIH) Holdings Ltd., a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, in which Premium purchased 51% of Ivory's shares, from the founders and from the company, for a total consideration of NIS 15.5 million.