The criteria for selecting companies are that it will be clear in 1999 that they are very good, either
because they went public with a valuation post $100M, or they will be
acquired with such valuation, or they will make it big in terms of
sales/position in the world market. However, clearly I was not able to
mention all the companies that are relevant, since we have several
companies in our portfolio that we initiated or invested in the Internet and
other sectors, that are likely to make it big in 1999, but
the information has to be kept secret at this point.
The common denominator of all these companies is that:
*- They solve a real problem in the market place.
*
- They are leaders or potential leaders in their field.
.*
- Market is large or will be large soon (billions of dollars).
The companies are in alphabetical order:
Accord Video *
*Accord was founded by Zigi Gavish and the late Gideon Rosenfeld. They
sell video conferencing multi control units to service providers around
the world, such as Sprint, British Telecom, etc. These units allow
video conferencing sessions with many participants, with all of them being seen on the screen. Accord is the leader in its market for Service
Providers, with 1998 sales well over $10M. Barriers to entry are very
high, and I predict that Accord will establish leadership in this growing
market, going public in 1999 or 2000. Investors include Concord,
Nitzanim, Star Ventures, Veritas, as well as Gilde and ATV from abroad.
Creo Products
*Creo, based in Vancouver Canada, is headed by two Israeli
entrepreneurs, Amos Michaelson, CEO, and Dan Gelbard, CTO. Creo supplies
the pre-press and press industries with automation systems, such
as computer to plate machines and direct to press machines. Creo has
joint ventures with industry leaders such as Heidelberg and Kodak. It is
expected that Creo will go public in 1999 with major underwriters.
Investors include Goldman Sachs, Evergreen, Star, and Gilde.
Friendly Machine*
Founded by Udi Peles, also a past fighter pilot in the IDF, Friendly
applied military technology to develop advanced inexpensive robotic
technology to apply to home appliances. Their first line of products,
completely robotized lawn mowers, was introduced to the market in 1998,
with superb reception by the market. A huge market potential, that
includes vacuum cleaner, floor sweepers, etc., with a significant barriers
to entry, makes Friendly a potential big success. IPO is not expected
before 2000. Investors include Concord Ventures, Technoplast, as well as
Coral Ventures from the US.
Proactivity - founded by Borris Shapiro, a newcomer from the Soviet
Union, Proactivity has applied complex algorithms to automate the process
of re-engineering. Millions of man hours, and billions of dollars, are
spent every year by armies of consultants in specifying the
information flow in companies in order to simplify and automate their
processes. Proactivity's patent technology and products enable a large part of this process to be automated, thus providing a value proposition that can save up
to 50% of the labor cost involved, creating savings in the
billions. Proactivity is in the process of signing agreements with the
world leaders in this field. Still a young company, it is expected to
make breakthroughs on the business side in 1999. Investors include Israel
Seed Ventures.
RT-Set
Founded as a spin-off of BVR, RT-Set took fighter plane simulator
technology to build a virtual set for television studios. It enables the creation
of advanced studios by using computer simulated 3D
environments. RT-Set is
the world leader in this small but fast growing segment, with customers
such as CBS, Disney, and many others. CEO Shalom Nachshon and
chairman Yaron Sheinman are both ex-IDF pilots. RT-Set will sell well
over $10 million in 1999, and is expected to go public in 1999 or 2000.
PictureVision*
Founded in Jerusalem and Virginia in 1995, Picture Vision is a world
leader in providing photography services to Internet users. Consumers
around the world can request their films to be processed in thousands of
photofinishing shops with the "Internet" option. This allows the user to
see his film on line, download it, send greeting cards, order quality
prints, and make photo albums, among other services. Eastman Kodak, who
purchased 50% of PictureVision, and AOL, which owns another big portion,
make this world leader company hard to beat in this fast growing
Internet sector. Investors include Jerusalem Global group, Benchmark, and Oak
Ventures, among others
iWeb*
Established in 1998, iWeb has developed a server technology that allows
Internet Service Providers to advertise to users without interrupting
the flow of information from the Web applications they are viewing.
This enables the ISP's to participate in the multi-billion advertising
market projected for the coming years. It enables the ISP's to change
their models to free or discounted providers, if the customers agree to
get advertisements. Many other benefits are also provided to the ISP's.
Investors include Jerusalem Global and a group of private investors.
Saifun*
Founded by Dr. Boaz Eitan, an ex fighter pilot, and a veteran of Silicon
Valley, Saifun has developed the NROM technology, a completely new silicon
device that replaces existing technology for non-volatile memory. With a
much smaller silicon size, and substantially simpler manufacturing
process, NROM has the potential to capture a big portion of the $10 billion
NVM market, with applications in Flash memory, EEPROM, and embedded
products. Saifun has substantial contacts with the industry giants in
this field to help it ramp up quickly in this huge market. Tower
Semiconductor is a Saifun partner, with a 15% ownership. Investors
include Concord Ventures and Gemini.
Trivnet
Founded by Amir Galilee, a founder of Emultek, Trivnet developed a
click payment system for micro transactions on the Internet. It allows the
user to purchase anything by a click, and pay via the ISP's monthly bill. This solves many problem for the user, who does not have to
specify a credit card number, when it comes to transaction security, and impulse
purchasing. While like all Internet businesses it is highly dynamic and
risky, Trivnet has the potential to become a leader in this field.
Investors include Veritas, as well as private investors.
Valor
Valor is the world leader in providing software to automate the process of
electronics manufacturing. It is already the world leader in the CAM/CAD
software for PCB market, with over 50% market share. It has
companies such as Cisco and IBM as customers. The third product,
Trilogy, is targeted
at the contract manufacturers, that build boards as subcontractors. Celestics, the multi-billion leader in this field, is a
Valor beta site. With its JV with Orbotech, and other JV's and
partnerships, Valor is positioned to be a very strong world leader of this
small, but growing and profitable field. IPO is expected in 1999. The
only investor in Valor is Steps/Courses, headed by Meir Kfir.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 30, 1998