Medved, named by the Washington Post, “as one of Israel’s leading venture capitalists,” was invited as a keynote speaker last year at the newly formed Oregon-Israel Business Alliance (OIBA), an organization that was created to expand business and economic relations between the State of Oregon and Israel. It was at this event that Medved met Lucid Energy president and CEO Gregg Semler and became aware of the company’s LucidPipe technology and his desire to explore opportunities in Israel.

This transaction has been covered by the local Portland, Israeli and national media

• Business Wire: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lucid-energy-receives-funding-from-israels-ourcrowd-2013-03-05
• Globes – Israel Business newspaper: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000827522
• Sustainable Business Oregon: http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2013/03/lucid-lands-israeli-crowdfunding-cash.html
• Oregon Public Broadcasting: http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/portland-in-pipe-hydro-company-goes-global-with-crowd-funding

To learn more about the OIBA and how we build connections and business relationships between Oregon and Israel, please visit us at http://www.oregonisrael.com or contact us at info@oregonisrael.com

Jon Medved	Greg Semler

The Better Place story

The Oregon-Israel Business Alliance and the Drive Oregon are partnering up to bring this exciting event.

Launched in Israel to great fanfare, Better Place promised to revolutionize the electric vehicle charging market with a network of “battery swap stations,” creating what one analyst has called “the most ambitious electric car enterprise in the world.”However, after raising some $750 million, the company is struggling to attract customers or gain any foothold in the market.  In October, the company’s founder and lead visionary, Shai Aggasi, was asked to step down as CEO, reportedly because of the company’s increasing losses.

Join us on January 16th for a unique “insider’s view” of Better Place.  Our speaker, Shahaf Kieselstein, served at the company from ‘day one’ in 2008 until 2012 where he  held many roles, including Manager of the Research and Development Program Office.  Currently, Kieselstein is general manager of Intel’s Client Connectivity Division.  After a brief overview of how the Better Place model works, Kieselstein will share his perspective on what happened when the company’s vision met reality and what current electric vehicle companies can learn from this experience.

Details:
Space is limited, so please register soon. Complimentary appetizers and Oregon beer and wine are included in your admission.
When:   Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Where:   Kells: 112 SW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR
Register:  Attendance is free for Oregon-Israel Business Alliance members and Drive Oregon members, $25 for members of the public. REGISTER NOW: http://driveoregon-betterplace.eventbrite.com/

About Drive Oregon:  Drive Oregon (http://driveoregon.org) Drive Oregon is a nonprofit public-private partnership with diverse membership from across the range of companies and organizations involved in electrifying the transportation system. Drive Oregon’s industry representation consists of companies that develop and produce vehicles, components, perform conversions, and provide consulting services for hybrid and electric vehicles and energy storage technologies.  Drive Oregon’s mission is to promote, support, and grow the electric vehicle industry in Oregon.

For his first business stop, the OIBA took Dr. David to Nike, where he learned about a unique partnership between the Oregon sportswear giant and the Israeli company, Delta Galil. Together, the two companies generate sales of over a million socks per month. Dr. David (pictured below in middle) had the chance to meet with two Delta employees behind this amazing work, David Malul (pictured below on right) and Ronny Yehuda (pictured below on left)

Booky began by explaining some of the peculiarities of Israeli culture that led to its remarkable business success. In his view, this can be explained by two Hebrew words that are never used — toda (thank you) and slicha (excuse me) — and two non-Hebrew words that are often used — tachlis (get it done) and yahla (let’s go). This tachlis approach when it comes to water innovation means that Israel will be fully independent of rainfall as a water source by 2015, served instead by advanced technology.

A number of Oregon companies were in the room, including Lucid Energy, Zenergia, Portland Purple Water, Puralytics, and Agilyx. Booky noted that the sources of innovation are everywhere, and cited Akron and Las Vegas as cities that were moving forward quickly on water innovation. “Seventy percent of the innovation that will affect our world already exists, as do most of the customers.”

At the same time, Booky cautioned that the VC model for water operates by different market mechanisms than high tech, and that it would take ten years for most new technologies to succeed. “For standard VCs, the exit model is not clear,” he explained. “Companies are better investors than VC but they don’t know how to buy the innovation.” What is needed, said Booky, is “i2i,” innovation to implementation.

To address this problem, Booky invited companies to engage in the Global Water Partnership Hub, which seeks to connect the dots between innovation, investor companies, and the market. The idea is to demonstrate value to investors through pilot projects and early adopters. “Sustainability doesn’t come from charity,” said Booky. “You have to bring value.”

Booky joked that he had barely heard of Oregon a few months ago, and now can’t seem to avoid it. One week earlier, the OIBA brought Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to visit the offices of Booky Oren Global Water Technologies, Ltd in Herzeliya.

As the former Chairman of WATEC Israel, Booky invited everyone to come to Israel for the WATEC 2013 (beginning October 24). The OIBA is organizing a business mission with Greater Portland Inc to coincide with the conference. If you are interested in joining, please Contact Us

Booky Oren (left) with Gregg Semler (right), CEO of Lucid Energy

Booky talking about i2i

Ms. Elena ABAYEV Spokeswoman and Parliamentary Assistant, Office of Dr. Einat Wilf Member of Knesset, Independence Party

Ms. Elena GOLDENBERG  Anti-Racism Project Coordinator, Shatil

Mr. Tal NAHUM Spokesperson, Yisrael Beiteinu Party

Ms. Yael POLLACK Parliamentary Assistant, Office of Tzipi Hotovely, Member of Knesst, Likud Party

Ms. Tamar Tsila SHCHORY  Vice-President, World Jewish Congress

The following day, the OIBA arranged meetings for an Israeli business delegation studying diversity in the workplace. The group visited the offices of Tripwire and Portland General Electric, where they engaged in lively conversations with HR professionals. The group features representatives of such prominent Israeli companies as Strauss and Amdocs.

Former Governor Ted Kulongoski leading roundtable

 Lena Abayev aide to MK Ehud Barak

Tamar Shchory with Portlandia’s very own Fred Armisen 

The famed human rights leader and founder of the refusenik movement shared details of his life, noting with humor that his time in politics was more painful than his years in Soviet prisons. Sharansky detailed plans at the Jewish Agency to build on the success of programs such as Birthright in bringing Israel and Diaspora Jews closer together. These may focus on Israel’s booming economy, offering opportunities such as internships with Israel tech companies.

Sharansky noted that the nature of the Zionist mission has changed with time, and that Israel no longer expects the in-migration of all Jews to Israel. While there will always be a role for the Agency in addressing the urgent needs of Jews in such places as Iran and Venezuela, Sharansky also endeavors to build closer ties with groups such as OIBA supporting relationships between Israel and Israeli companies and a broad network around the world.

The Oregon-Israel Business Alliance and the Software Association of Oregon have partnered up to bring an exciting event. We are co-hosting in bringing one of Israel’s leading technology entrepreneurs and investors, Jonathan Medved, to Portland on January 11th, 2012. Jonathan is interested in getting to know Oregon’s technology community and sharing his insights, so we’re jointly holding a networking event at Webtrends from 6 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012.

Jonathan Medved is presently the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vringo. Mr. Medved co-founded Israel Seed Partners and acted as a co-manager of the fund from January 1995 to January 2006. During Mr. Medved’s tenure, ISP had $262 million under management in four funds and has been an investor in 60 leading Israeli companies. In addition, Mr. Medved co-managed the fund’s multiple successful investments, including the investments in Shopping.com, Compugen Ltd., Answers Corporation, Cyota Inc., Native Networks, Xacct Technologies Inc. and Business Layers.

When: Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Where: Webtrends: 851 SW 6th Ave., Suite 1600, Portland OR. 97204

Register: $25 MEMBERS, $30 NONMEMBERS | Click here to register now

A special thanks to MergerTech for their support of this event, and thank you to Webtrends for hosting this event.

The Software Association of Oregon (www.sao.org) is dedicated to bringing together some of the brightest minds in the software industry. The largest professional software association in the Northwest, the SAO is comprised of over 350 companies in Oregon and SW Washington that are involved or affiliated with the software and technology industries.

The Oregon-Israel Business Alliance is hosting our next event on September 22nd –
How To Do Business With Israel – Cultural Tips on Doing Business With Israel

Join the Oregon-Israel Business Alliance and Intel Capital for an informative presentation on the cultural tips and personal aspects of doing business in Israel. Senior Intel representatives will discuss the opportunities and potential pitfalls of doing business in Israel and with Israelis as well as update the audience on their current funding programs.

Thank you to Intel Capital and Hotel DeLuxe, our generous sponsors for this event!

The Oregon-Israel Business Alliance was established in 2010 by a dedicated group of business professionals and economic development agencies, in order to foster business and economic relations between the State of Oregon and the State of Israel.

Please take a look around the site, visit our sponsors’ sites and let us know what you think!