Catching up with some of the recent deals in the industry. Below is a short recap of what’s been getting money these days:
1. Octavian Inc, a leading provider of Separately Managed Account (SMA) solutions in the Wealth and Investment Management (WIM) industry, announced the completion of a $10 million, second round of investment led by Vertex Venture Capital, together with Carmel Ventures and Gemini Israel Funds, Octavian’s existing investors. [via] Solar energy start-up XJet raises $9m. In stealth mode, XJet aims to redefine solar cells cost efficiency by using next generation deposition technologies. Following Shai Agassi’s “Project Better Place”, this investment strengthens Israel’s position as a world leader in the export of renewable technology. [via]
2. Staying on energy, Globes reports that Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), the fifth largest oil refiner in the world, is examining Israeli cleantech for possible investment at the International Water Technologies and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference – Watec 2007 in Tel Aviv.The sources added that the company will invest $112 billion in technology companies worldwide under its five-year plan. The bulk of this investment will go to renewable energy technologies, including $15 billion for biofuel. [via]
3. Intel invests $11M in Jordan Valley Semiconductors. The 12-year-old Jordan Valley develops tools for semiconductor
metrology based on x-ray technology, with offices in Israel, U.S., Europe, and Asia. Intel’s investment follows a funding spree of $31M since May, including Israel-based application management software company Aternity and Israel-based portable computing environment company Ceedo and Israeli-founded IP Phone provider, JaJah. [via]
4. VC Investments in Israel in Q3 up 9% compared to equivalent period last year. In the third quarter of 2007, 108 Israeli high-tech companies raised $414 million from venture investors – both local and foreign. The average company financing round was $3.83 million in Q3, compared with $4.38 million in the third quarter of 2006. [via]
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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