Journey 2007 - Summary

Journey (an E&Y conference) is probably one of the 2 most important high-tech/VC conferences in Israel. It is held every year during the fall, and brings all the VCs, many entrepreneurs, and a lot of international guests. This year I could not attend (Can't make it to every event in Israel…), but my good partner Avi Hasson summarized some of the key takeaways from the event.

1. First of all, there were more than 2000 people. The parking lots were FULL, and it seemed like the place was completely overloaded. Great energy and optimism!
2. The topic of building big companies was still a high topic. Looking at history, it took about 12 years for Israeli companies to get to $100M sales (Amdocs, Nice, M-Systems). However, it takes about 6 for years for a VC company to be acquired. The gap needs to bridged by mezzanine rounds, since the VC lifecycle is only 10 years. The country lacks growth funds!
3. Cleantech (dedicated funds, growing deal flow) and media companies (Oberon, Metacafe, eSnips) are emerging as hot areas in the market. We are still following the footsteps of Silicon Valley!
4. Angels are increasing their activity, but there is still a gap between them and the VCs. There are few examples of VCs funding companies that were seeded by angels. Is this a potential for proprietary deal flow?
5. Innovation in Israel is viewed as very different from innovation in the US. Israel is all about product innovation. The real innovation should be in platforms & services. Bring on the Israeli iPod/iTunes!

Finally, it's important to state that Optier, a Gemini portfolio company, was selected as the most promising startup of the year. Congratulations to Israel, Moti, and their team.