Company Name:
Ofil
Object:
Fire Sensor
This Ness-Ziona start-up has developed a technology enabling daylight fire detection. The Israeli developers claim that for military purposes, Fire Sensor could assist in spotting missiles in trajectory.
Fire detection, considered one of the easiest things in the world, is not. A fire breaking out by night can easily be traced. By day, it’s another matter.
In recent years, more fires are being caused due to global warming, and hence the need for an instrument able to warn against small fires taking place in daytime.
Precisely such an instrument has been developed by Ofil of Ness Ziona. The Ofil technology is based on sunlight filtration, using materials that absorb solar radiation but allow ultraviolet rays through.
This involves special chemical dye compounds specifically developed at Ofil’s laboratories, which block out the sun’s rays (viz. daylight), but permit the passage of ultraviolet rays generated during combustion.
The device, called "Fire Sensor", features a light filter based on the chemical dyes, and an electronic early warning system, with a microprocessor and a sensor connected to a filter.
The software analyses the signals reaching the filter, and determines whether they were emitted by a fire or merely by a flash of light.
At this stage, the company has developed a forest fire detection device, capable of detecting a small fire of about 9 sq.m. at a distance of 5 km. The device can be mounted on an observation tower, or can be carried on board a light aircraft or a pilot-less plane.
The device can also be used for military purposes, such as the detection of missiles in trajectory. At this time, when, due to the hole in the ozone layer, unfiltered sunlight may severely damage human skin, a portable instrument can be developed to measure the force of the harmful radiation. For aviation purposes, a landing strip lights system, visible even under the heaviest fog, can be constructed.
According to Ofil’s sales personnel, the industrial fire prevention products market amounts to some $60 million annually.
The market for fire prevention in public areas, meaning forests and national parks, is estimated at $100 million annually.
The company is looking for a strategic investor, to assist in the set-up of a marketing system, which will address both the institutional and the industrial markets.
Founded four years ago, the company completed all development work on Fire Sensor eighteen months ago and is now developing other aviation navigation products.
In the past four years, one million dollars was invested in the company, and of that amount, some $500,000 consisted of aid from the Chief Scientist, while the balance was shareholders’ equity.
The required investment amounts to $1.5 million, of which one third will be applied to new product development, while $1 million will go to the marketing system.
Contact:
Dr. Malka Lindner
Ofil Ltd.
NESS ZIONA TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, NESS ZIONA, ISRAEL
Telephone/Fax: 972-8-9407953, 972-8-9407873
E-Mail: Ofil@inter.net.il
Company Name:
Connect One
Object:
Development of fax to e-mail Internet converter and embedded Internet technology.
36 year-old Amir Friedman, an electronics engineer by training, was one of the founders of M-Systems, and of the US branch of Aladdin. After taking M-Systems to its first issue on NASDAQ, he returned to Israel and left the company, though he still serves on its board. Friedman then took a six month break to ponder an idea for a new company.
Thus was born Fax Messenger. The device is essentially a modem with fax buttons. How does it work? A document is sent by fax, and the converter translates it into e-mail format on the Internet, and transmits it to any e-mail address via the local Internet service provider. The advantages: a saving in the cost of the telephone call, if it is long-distance; and the ability to send graphic material or pre-existing documents via the Internet in the form of an attachment, obviating the need for a scanner.
How does one receive Internet/e-mail faxes? The device dials into the Internet at the time set by the user, reaches the user’s mailbox, and prints the e-mail directly onto the fax. The retail price of the device will be about $200.
Friedman says that, from his conversations with distributors, it appears that the market for the device divides into two: small businesses that spend over $100 a month on fax calls; and companies providing fax services via the Internet, that have sprung up in the last couple of years. These companies make it possible for people without fax machines to send faxes, at an average price of 10 cents. Such companies, says Friedman, need to set up a network of local Internet servers, so as to avoid the cost of non-local calls.
The version of Fax Messenger with which these companies will equip their subscribers will enable them to set up a smaller infrastructure of servers at the initial stage, and thus save the set-up costs.
"Globes": What is the life-expectancy of your product?
"Two or three years. After that, this facility will become part of the fax machines themselves."
Why, then, should this technology not be incorporated into existing fax machines? This is precisely what Friedman is working on, in conjunction with National Semiconductors, which supplies fax components to the machine manufacturers.
Some manufacturers have already incorporated the company’s software in their fax machines, says Friedman, but he is prevented from saying which ones. National Semiconductors displayed these devices at the Comdex exhibition. The technology is intended for the lower end of the sophisticated fax market, where prices range from $400 to $500 in the US.
Connect One’s technology is not unique. Panasonic has already brought out a fax machine with the same capability, but it is aimed at the upper end of the market: fax machines costing $3,500, which the Panasonic’s new technology will make $1,500 more expensive.
Friedman hopes that Fax Messenger will start to appear on the shelves in the third quarter of the year.
What will the next product be?
"Our market niche is making Internet connectivity easier. We are working on remote systems which make possible remote control of embedded systems, such as in domestic electrical products, food automats, or cameras, for example. Here too, as with the Fax Messenger, the Internet will serve as a data transfer medium, and the device will be a modem, that will enable data transfer without the need for a CPU or memory. The Internet is going to be what connects up just about everything in our lives. We are enabling various kinds of systems to connect to the Internet."
Four people work at Connect One. The company received a $300,000 grant from the Ministry of Industry and Trade Chief Scientist at the end of 1995. Negotiations are in progress with venture capital funds and investors in Israel and overseas. Amir Friedman and his wife Anat own 97% of the shares; the rest were given to the employees. Friedman’s ambition is reach annual sales of $30-40 million at the initial stage, with a workforce of 60.
Contact:
Amir Friedman
Telephone: 972 9 766 0456
Fax: 972 9 766 0461
E-mail: amirf@connectone.com
Web site: http://www.connectone.com
Published by Israel's Business Arena January 27, 1998
Company Name:
Refmed Cryo-Medical Products Ltd.
Object:
Development of convenient, cheap-to-run, hypothermic and cryosurgical devices.
Cryosurgery (low temperature surgery) has been practised for about thirty years. It has several advantages over conventional techniques: it is quick; it prevents bleeding; and reduces both pain and the risk of infection.
Unfortunately, at least up to now, it has also had certain disadvantages. These include the need for a constant supply of freezing agents (liquid nitrogen, compressed nitrous oxide), and for costly technical support. Running costs are therefore high. There are also thermoelectric devices available, but these are unable to provide the kind of low temperatures required, and are inconvenient because of their bulky heat sink radiators.
Refmed has developed devices that overcome these disadvantages. It has produced an autonomous cryosurgical instrument which obviates the need for delivery of an external cryoagent. The device is a rechargeable cryoprobe which accumulates cold in the range minus 65 to minus 85 degrees Celsius and delivers cold to the tissue to be treated. A low temperature non-expensive two-stage freezer is used as a cold source. The device weighs 300 gr, and lighter versions can be constructed for small scale operations. Fabrication cost of the system is $1,000-1,100.
The company plans to apply its breakthrough technology to the development of a flexible cryocatheter, to treat, for example, various types of arrhythmia, a cryoprobe with a variable shaped cryotip, for cryosurgical treatment of liver metastases and other operations, and a cryoneedle, which will be especially useful for treating varicose veins.
Refmed has also developed a hypothermic device for cooling specific areas of the body based on a highly efficient heat sink radiator. The device is one third the weight of competing systems, and significantly cheaper to manufacture. It is designed for a wide variety of cold therapies: for orthopedic procedures, general and obstetric procedures, treatments in proctology, gynecology, and urology, and for plastic, re-constructive, oral and maxilla-facial procedures. Fabrication cost is $500-700.
The novel design of the heat sink radiator employed in the hypothermic device for chilling hot areas of the thermo-electric elements has important applications beyond medicine. For example, it is the basis for cooling devices for high-power electronic components with small heat release areas, such as transistors, thyristors, and micropocessors.
According to market research carried out for the company in 1992, the market for cryosurgical instruments is $150-200 million annually. The market for the hypothermic device is harder to assess, but, as the device is for use in physiotherapy, the company estimates that this market is even larger.
Refmed seeks investment in its development projects, and strategic partnerships for marketing its products.
Contact:
Dr. A. Levin
Telephone/fax: 972 4 825 8664
E-mail: levin01@netvision.net.il
Published by Israel's Business Arena January 19, 1998
Company Name:
Highway Information Technologies (HIT) Ltd.
Object:
Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control (AICC) System
The need to ease the lot of drivers on modern highly congested roads, as well as prevention of rear-ending accidents, has been the driving force behind HIT Technologies efforts. This young company headed by engineer A. Efrati and Shlomo Dekel, works out of the Granot Technology Development Centre near Hadera.
They have been working in conjunction with the MBT division of Israel Aircraft Industries, to develop a millimeter wave radar system for use as the Headway Sensor for an Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control (AICC) system. This forward looking radar is linked to the vehicle’s electronic control unit, which supervises various systems such as ABS/TCS, Intelligent Throttle System (Cruise Control) etc. The AICC control loop operates without driver intervention and automatically gently brakes the vehicle to maintain a safe distance from the one in front. Naturally the driver can set the upper cruising speed limit.
Testing has been carried out by the BMW research department, which has provided parameters and requirements for the system
The company expects development work to be completed this year, with commercial production starting early in 1999. Following successful demonstrations, discussions are progressing with VDO of Germany, Furukawa of Japan, and others regarding manufacturing and distribution rights.
The sales price and production costs per unit for the prototype are estimated at some $5000 and $2700 respectively. When production gets into full swing, by the year 2000, the price is expected to drop to $500, reducing gradually to $160 thereafter. The market is the hundreds of millions of vehicles on the world’s roads. It is anticipated that ten thousand units will be produced by the year 2000, when production will rapidly increase to hundreds of thousands per year, exceeding a million by 2004.
The company is looking for joint venture capital participation of some $2-3 million, preferably with a strategic partner.
Contact:
Shlomo Dekel
HIT Technologies Ltd.
GRANOT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, HADERA, ISRAEL
Telephone/Fax: 972-6-6548996
Company Name:
Company Name:
Scanvec Ltd.
Object:
Integrated computer program for sign making
John Ben-Zaken
Scanvec has developed a new software program, Inspire, for the sign making industry, providing solutions for a variety of operations that today involve buying a number of separate programs.
The software does nearly everything required to make computerised signs, including graphic editing, text editing, processing pictures, operating cutting machinery, wide format printing equipment, and engraving equipment. All can be performed by a PC with the minimum requirements of a Pentium 100 processor and 32MB memory.
Deputy general manager for research and development at Scanvec Eran Lavin said the product is based on an object oriented database they have developed. This program has stored within it all the graphic objects in the design, and all the operations performed on the original objects.
The heart of the program is a number of editing tools connected to one type, or a number of types, of objects. The connection enables the program to suggest to users the most suitable tool for editing the graphic object being designed, making their work easier.
Furthermore, there are tools handling operations that allow for the editing of previous operations. This facility is called ‘Flashback’, and is at the stage of patenting. It enables an object to be edited even after it has been through many phases of work, and to automatically restore it.
The company believes it has developed the best program of its type in the world, though they admit it suffers a few teething troubles, such as the program’s speed of response. As the size of the work file increases, the speed of response declines, and the average speed achieved today is similar to the previous generation of Scanvec programs, CASmate-Pro. Even so the company says that users at test sites, who utilised the ‘Flashback’ function, reported a 90% improvement in the time usually required for design.
The company’s sales department believes the program’s commercial potential is in the sign making industry. They estimate that 250,000 sign making companies operate round the world. Of these, some 200,000 are computerised, and they comprise the main potential market for the program.
Contact:
Eran Lavin
Telephone: 972 3 647 4477
Fax: 972 3 649 0778
email: eranl@scenvec.com
The Arena Guide to Israeli Early Stage Companies and Start-ups