Israel Venture Association Annual Conference to Focus on Building Large Companies.

IVA Partners With Red Herring to Elect the Winning Start-Ups of 2007

TEL-AVIV, Israel -- The Israel Venture Association (IVA) announced today that its annual High-Tech and Venture Capital Conference will be held on June 10 - 11, 2007 at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. IVA

further announced that it has partnered with the Red Herring business and technology magazine to co-manage the Conference panels and the "Start-up of the Year" competition. Conference speakers will include prominent industry leaders from Israel, the US, Europe and Asia. Many international investors from around the world are expected to attend.

"In just over a decade, the Israeli technology industry has established itself as a global hub of innovation, with extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit and significant investor interest from all over the world," said Conference Co-Chairmen Eddy Shalev, General Partner and Founder of Genesis Partners, and Eli Barkat, General Partner and Founder of BRM Capital, "We expect that the industry experience that was developed during this period will drive an acceleration in both the quantity of successful start-ups and, even more importantly, the quality and magnitude of the successes."

The theme for this year's event is "Start Up Big!" and it will focus on Building Large Companies with a stimulating program that includes how to better leverage Israeli innovations to create larger companies, what this means to Israeli entrepreneurs/VC's and LPs, local and global case studies, which sectors to invest in, CleanTech and other emerging sectors with the potential to impact the industry. In addition, the Conference will include focused breakout sessions on Networking and Home Networking, Web 2.0 & 3.0, new models for Enterprise Software, Medical Devices and Biotech as well as Gaming and Digital Media.

As a Conference highlight, Red Herring Magazine has partnered with the IVA in organizing the "Start-up of the Year" contest. The competition will honor the best start-ups of 2007 in the categories of Software & Internet, Semiconductor & Communications, and Life Sciences. In addition, a special IVA committee will elect the IVA Persons of the Year in the following categories: the most significant contribution to the Israeli high-tech and venture capital industry, the leading technology entrepreneur, and the venture capitalist who has prominently contributed to the community. Representatives of the IVA and Red Herring will present the awards to the winning start-ups in each category of the start-up competition and the IVA Person of the Year awards.

According to Dr. Orna Berry, Chairperson of the IVA, "We are observing a trend in the Israeli entrepreneurial landscape where more and more entrepreneurs are focused on building global category leaders right from the get go. Building large companies is a national challenge, which will change the face of Israel's economy and advance the Israeli edge in global competition."

About the IVA

The Israeli Venture Association (IVA) was founded in 1996 in response to the development of the high-tech industry and venture capital activity in Israel. The IVA is a broad based organization representing diverse aspects of the venture capital industry in Israel, including all the major VC funds and other venture investors, service providers, and technological incubators. Since the establishment of the government's Yozma ["initiative"] program, which served as the catalyst for the creation of an active VC community, Israeli VCs continue to lead efforts to make Israel a true source of technological innovation. For more information about the IVA, please visit www.iva.co.il.

About Red Herring

Red Herring, Inc. is a global media company which unites the world's best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, a daily online technology news service, technology newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider's access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com