16 Finalists, 3 Winners of the IsraelStartupNetwork Pitch Fest 2011

"Hi, Everyone,
Below you will find some basic information about the 16 finalists at our recent Pitch Fest, sponsored by Blumberg Capital, and hosted by Shiluvim. The first three are the winners, who were each awarded a very unique prize - every startup’s dream - a Due Diligence Process with Blumberg, which has already begun. The remaining 13 companies are listed in alphabetical order. Contact details have been provided. As you will see, these exciting startups cover a wide range of industries, reflecting the nature of our group. Over the coming weeks, we will be dedicating individual posts to each of these companies, as well as to many others among the 65 who applied to present.
All the best, and see you at our next event!
Arlene Marom"

Read here full story by Arlene Marom

Genieo closes $3 m. in seed funding

[ By israel21c.org ]

Genieo Innovation of Israel, creators of the ultimate home-page personalization engine, announced early this month the closing of US $3 million in seed funding.

Backed by leading private investors, the company is bringing to market the industry's first fully automatically updated and micro behavioral-targeted (MBT) personalized home-page. "Our technology transforms a homepage into a personal assistant" says Miss Sol Tzvi, founder and CEO of Genieo ...

Read here full story - Genieo closes $3 m. in seed funding

Sell High, Buy Low: Israeli Start Ups Get Funded

[By VCCafe.com]

Despite the exit drought, more Israeli start ups have reported to recieve venture rounds from the last 60 days. You’ll notice the common thread: lots of private investor involvement and almost always participation of the previous investors as well.

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Working with Israelis - pros & cons

Funny article found by my “radar” - does generalize on Israelis…
Working with Israelis

The first step in working with Israelis is understanding what motivates them.
The biggest influence on the shaping the Israeli way-of -thought is the Israeli army.
Everyone in Israel joins the army at the age of 18 and leaves the army 3 years later (2 years for women).
This experience shapes the future employee work ethic and attitudes.
When employees in the UK office are given a task - it's a task.
In Israel - it's a mission. Every task is taken with the utmost seriousness. It must get done! Life or Death! Attack!!
Employees in the Israeli office will not go home until the task is done.

The truth about Israelis is that they are not too different from any other nations. There are so many types of them – hard workers and some lazy ones, creative and ungifted, tall and short, fat and thin…
We are all different…