The Israel Conference in Los Angeles to Showcase Israel-Facing Companies, Investment Leaders and Industry Lions

Keynote Speakers Include Yossi Vardi, Eric Benhamou of Palm and 3com, and Erel Margalit of Jerusalem Venture Partners

Wednesday April 22, 2009, 8:00 am EDT

LOS ANGELES --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The first full-day interactive forum to bring more than forty Israel-facing companies together to increase business and investment opportunities between Israel and California will be held on Thursday, June 4, 2009 in Los Angeles. Registration begins today at www.TheIsraelConference.org

The Israel Conference™ brings together Israel-facing leaders of significant businesses that were founded in Israel, have R&D operations in Israel, do business in Israel, or invest in Israeli companies. Keynote speakers represent the spirit of inventiveness of the Israel market and include Yossi Vardi who is well known for Instant Messaging, Eric Benhamou of 3com and Palm, and Erel Margalit founder of Jerusalem Venture Partners. Session topics will cover high tech, clean tech, medical devices, powerful consumer brands, and entertainment media technology.

The Israel Conference will showcase technology and products with industry lions and investment leaders offering in-depth insights. The conference offers a marketplace for CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, senior executives and business development executives as well as entrepreneurs, private equity, financiers, investment bankers, and venture capitalists to gain awareness and be introduced to the products and services of the most innovative Israeli companies.

According to conference co-chair Sharona Justman, managing director of STEP Strategy Advisors, an acquisitions advisory and strategic planning firm, Israeli companies are known for developing cutting-edge technology and products that are used worldwide. “There is clearly a trend toward larger American companies investing in Israel and opening research and development centers,” Justman explained. “Google, Intel, Cisco, Oracle, and Microsoft are increasing their investment in Israel to secure innovative technology skills and bring solutions to the world market. There are enormous incentives to investing in Israeli companies; the money flows both ways in these deals.”

Justman said that The Israel Conference will reveal the vast business market and the current investment opportunities. Attendees will gain an insider’s understanding of the growth of both public and privately-held Israeli companies based in California and across the U.S.

Justman commented “It’s hard to imagine that from a population of under seven million people such market changing products have been developed in the past few decades such as the Pentium and Centrino chips that were developed at the Intel Israel campus, modern drip irrigation that was developed in Israel on a Kibbutz and commercialized through Netafim, and Instant Messaging that was developed in Israel by ICQ / Mirabilis.

Israel-facing companies are invited to participate in the Pavilion of Companies, an all-day area for remarkable technology and consumer products companies where companies will be able to showcase their unique qualities and meet directly with the speakers, participants, investors, and business development executives with whom they can network and drive new business opportunities.

Keynote speakers include Yossi Vardi, the founder and pioneer, along with his sons, of Instant Messaging, as well as Eric Benhamou of Palm and 3com Corporation. Erel Margalit, the founder of Jerusalem Venture Partners, one of the largest venture capital firms in Israel, will speak at the media and entertainment technology reception.

Notable speakers on the panels will feature chief executives, entrepreneurs, technology innovators, and financiers from market-making and Israel-facing companies and include key executives from Sequoia Capital and Shamrock Holdings as well as from DFJ Tamir Fishman, Milken Institute and Gemini Israel Funds. In addition, there will be speakers from Given Imaging, cVidya Networks, SAP Labs, The Westly Group, Mass Animation, STEP Strategy Advisors, Entertainment Media Ventures, SeamBI, ClipSync, Adap-tv, Eyecon, Tamarix Ventures, New Deal Design, Jajah, Kenshoo, Topio, Jinni, Entertainment Technology Center, Novafora, Stardoll, Vringo and The State of Israel.

The Israel Conference sponsors include Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Zag.com, Morrison & Foerster, Bank Leumi, TheMarker, BusinessWire, Israel Venture Capital Research Center, Southern California Israel Chamber of Commerce, Olmstead Williams Communications, Daly-Swartz Public Relations, KenRadio, WITI-Women In Technology International, and iHollywoodForum.

The Organizing Team includes Sharona Justman of STEP Strategy Advisors, Glenn Yago of Milken Institute, Isabel Maxwell of Israel Venture Network, Eran Wagner of cVidya Networks, David Ben-Ami of MacroCure, Chris Rice of Check Point, and Yair Landau of Mass Animation.

For further information, contact The Israel Conference™ at 310.445.5388 or email Paula@TheIsraelConference.org or visit www.TheIsraelConference.org.

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Contact:
Daly-Swartz PR for The Israel Conference
Jeffrey Swartz, 949-470-0075
jeffreyswartz@dsprel.com