The investment will be made through subsidiary Ness Ventures, which is responsible for investing in external projects.
"Globes" has learned that the Ness Technologies group has allocated $15 million for investment in start-ups. The investment will be under the framework of the group's subsidiary responsible for investing in external projects, Ness Ventures.
The investment is exceptional, since most companies in Ness Ventures' portfolio do not receive a monetary investment. The company receives share capital in exchange for development projects it carries out for the start-ups, at a level of 10-15%. The company also charges for these development services. In this way, start-ups can shorten development time and save, according to Ness Ventures, 30% of overhead expenses.
The Ness group put a development team of 230 at the project's disposal. Adiv Baruch, head of the activity, said the company has so far participated in nine projects.
The Ness group is a private company controlled by the Wolfson family. Investment company EM Warburg Pincus holds 18% of company shares. Ness Technologies was set up through a merger by five Israeli companies: Compro, Gilad, Contahal, IPEX-ICS and Advanced Technologies.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 11 July, 2000