| Israeli Tech Tour kicks off on Sunday |
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| Only two of the 60 overseas participants scheduled to attend the Israeli Tech Tour 04 have cancelled. US and European venture capitalists are coming. |
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| Hadas Manor 25 Mar 04 15:41 |
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| Next week will be a week of venture
capital events, including the
Israeli Tech Tour 04,
the first time the European Tech Tour Association (ETT) is meeting outside
the continent, and the Israel Venture Association (IVA) conference.
The final participants and attendees for the Israeli Tech Tour 04 will be arriving on Sunday for the conference's opening. The so-called "Yassin Effect" (the cancellation of tourist visits and reservations in the wake of the killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on Monday) failed to materialize: only two of the 60 overseas participants scheduled to attend the Israeli Tech Tour have cancelled. The Switzerland-based ETT and its conferences are designed to promote national high-tech industries. The Israeli Tech Tour 04 is the first time that ETT is holding a tour in Israel. The tech tour brings together high-tech entrepreneurs and local and foreign venture capitalists, who will get to know each other and network during a gala dinner and two days of meetings. Participants in the Israeli Tech Tour 04 are arriving from Switzerland, France, Finland, the US, Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, and the UK. Participating venture capital funds include Nokia (NYSE; LSE: HEX:NOK), Siemens (NYSE:SI; XETRA:SIE), Logitech (Nasdaq:LOGI; SWX:LOGN), and Russia's largest venture capital fund, Russian Technology Fund. Russian Tech Tour president Dr. Alexander Galitsky, a recipient of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, will also attend the Israeli Tech Tour. During his visit to Israel, Galitsky will examine investment opportunities in Israel for the venture capital funds with which he is involved. The overseas participants will meet 25 Israeli companies, chosen as Israel's top start-ups out of the 200 companies, mostly in communications, wireless, and software, that ETT examined. The names of the companies will be announced at the opening event on Sunday night. The foreign venture capital funds will also visit a number of Israeli companies, including Israel Aircraft Industries unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) division; and the local branches of international corporations, including IBM Israel and Intel Israel; and the Georges Leven High Tech Management School at Tel Aviv University. Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 25, 2004 |