William Blair - 35 Israeli start ups to follow

“Israel has become an important market for investors, particularly in the technology sector.”

William Blair & Co., a strategic partner of Poalim Capital Markets - Investment Bank Ltd., has initiated a quarterly survey of Israel. Richard Kiphart, the head of the Corporate Finance Department has recently returned from a quick trip to Israel, in which he visited a number of promising start ups.

The survey mentions 35 start-ups that William Blair has chosen to monitor, and predicts that some of these companies will be sold or go public in the coming year.

Three of these companies are profiled in the review:

• GI View Ltd. developed a tool for early diagnosis use in the large intestine. The device is a disposable, miniaturized, self-propelled, self-navigating endoscope for early diagnosis of precancerous tumors that requires no special skill to use, in contrast to colonoscopes, which have to be operated by expert doctors.
• Press-sense Ltd., a provider of Business Flow Automation solutions
  for the printing industry. The company's flagship, the iWay
  Family of Products, is based on a proven technology presently
  being employed in such major publications as USA Today, Newsweek
  and the Daily Telegraph.
• Traiana Inc., creator of automated post-trade processing of financial transactions. Started in 2000 Traiana today has a network of over 50 Prime Brokers, Dealers, and Investment Managers connected to its Traiana network, as well as hundreds of hedge funds using its products and service through their Prime Brokers.

In summary, William Blair says: "“Israel…is in many ways an emerging economy… The political risk level is high as well, although perhaps overstated considering its high profile. The country, however, is much further developed than many other emerging markets…"