Dr. Orna Berry elected as IVA Chairman.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Dr. Orna Berry was unanimously elected today as the next Chairperson of the Israel Venture Association (IVA), replacing the outgoing Chairman, Yoram Oron, Founder and Managing Partner of Vertex Venture Capital Fund. Dr. Berry is a Venture Partner at Gemini Israel Funds and has

Dr. Berry served as the Chief Scientist in the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor, where she worked to promote policies for encouraging investment in research and development. Dr. Berry was a partner in the formation of ORNET Data Communications Technologies, which was acquired by Siemens for $32 million in 1995, worked as a senior research engineer in companies like IBM and Unisys, and served as a consultant to Intel.

Dr. Berry was elected as Chairperson of the Board by the IVA's new Board of Directors which was elected last week at the IVA's Annual Meeting.

In accepting this volunteer position, Dr. Berry said: "I am honored to be elected to serve as the Chairperson of the IVA Board. I am going to continue the efforts initiated by my predecessors and by my colleagues in the VC industry in order to guarantee that entrepreneurship remains a growth engine and a necessity in our country's economy, and that the Israeli entrepreneur will continue to be worthy of emulation."

Yoram Oron, the IVA's outgoing Chairman, said: "Orna Berry's involvement in the high-tech industry as Chief Scientist, as the founder of a company and as an investment manager gives her excellent tools for influencing and representing the venture capital funds vis-a-vis the government in Israel as well as international bodies."

About 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, technological incubators and more. Since the establishment of the governmental Yozma program, which served as the catalyst for the creation of an active VC community, the Israeli VCs have been and continue to lead the efforts in making Israel a true source of technological innovation. For more information about the IVA, please visit www.iva.co.il.