Latest Updates /  Startups

The firm welcomes Adv. Ezra Katzen , a new partner in the technology department, Adv.  Daniel Lorber and Adv.  Mayer Winkler that will work in the firm’s commercial department.

This year’s summary of Maariv puts the spotlight on key legal developments in Israel, covering the following topics: Capital Markets (by Micky Barnea); Anti-Trust (by Zohar Lande); Constitutional Law; Criminal Law nfrastructure ; Tax and Money laudering

Ezra Katzen was the featured speaker at a meeting of the mentoring group of OurCrowd.  Ezra spoke about director liability in a talk entitled “Board Oversight: Oversee, Don’t Overlook”

An Israeli District Court ruled last week  that advertisements posted on websites as the result of the use of services provided by Google do not constitute spam according to the Israeli anti-spam law. For the full article, refer to PDF below.

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.

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.

Since its enactment in 1959, the law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment is one of the most significant and meaningful means for the growth and development of the Israeli economy and its industry.

Further to the request of the Canadian businessman, Mr. Edwin (Benni) Tisch, businesswoman Hanna Gertler will testify in the Whitewater trial, in accordance with the decision of Justice Ruth Ronen, of the Economic Department of the District Court in Tel Aviv. Tisch claims that Whitewater and Yogev made false representations and acted fraudulently, causing Tisch to invest millions in Whitewater Holdings. Whitewater Holdings is in receivership and creditors are owed approximately NIS 19 million. To read more, please click here

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.

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.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid and his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, signed a revised tax treaty in Berlin on August 21, 2014. The convention, which was last amended in 1977, has been adapted to make it correspond to modern international tax law and current economic relations between Israel and Germany.

Israel’s conflict with Hamas-controlled Gaza is escalating. The conflict broke out on July 8, when Israel launched "Operation Protective Edge" in response to Hamas launching rockets toward Israel. Is this still a place where lawyers can do international business?

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.

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. 

Corporate Live wire held a roundtable with seven experts from around the world to discuss the latest changes and developments in capital markets in each expert's respective jurisdiction. To read more, please click here

The firm represented AVGOL Industries 1953 Ltd. in their issuance of a new series of debentures (Series C) in the amount of NIS 502 million. This is one of the largest financing rounds made this year on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and its aims are to replace existing financial debt, and to finance ongoing investment activities and operations of the Company. AVGOL Industries is a global technology company, a world leader in the development, manufacture, and marketing of nonwoven fabrics, especially diapers and hygiene products, and its customers include large companies such as Procter Gamble and Kimberly-Clark. The Company's shares are traded on the Tel Aviv 100 index. To read more, please click here

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.

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."

Barnea’s litigation team represented a client before the Supreme Court in a precedent setting landmark appeal concerning fundamental obligations under Israel's securities law and tort law. The Supreme Court overturned the rulings of the District Court and accepted our firm’s position that a duty of care does not exist between shareholders of a company, which were found jointly guilty in violating securities laws.