Israeli tech – 2011 Summary

2012 is already here, and it's time to list some of the more important events that happened in Israel during the past 12 months. Since my memory is somewhat limited, this cannot be a full list, and I am sure there is at least one major major event that I forgot as I compiled this list. So, to be precise, here are SOME of the important events that happened in our local industry in 2011. They are listed in random order.

1. Waze raises money from Kleiner Perkins. Kleiner has always been the most difficult fund for Israeli startups. Sequoia, Benchmark, Greylock were always very active here, but KPCB was somewhat reluctant. They invested here before, so this is not a first, but this one seems a bit different. This is a real endorsement of the quality of Waze, and their leadership position in the market. Maybe, more than anything, it shows that for great companies there are no real anti-rules.
2. Conduit distributes dividend to shareholders. In September, Conduit announced they will be distributing dividends to shareholders. In their own words: "It's well known in the Israeli tech community that a very large percentage of our employees are shareholders, and we paid them a generous dividend". M&A and IPO are so "last year".
3. Navajo Systems acquired by Salesforce. Originally, I wanted to write about Apple acquiring Anobit. Clearly, a more visible milestone. But in reality it's all part of the amazing "return of global hi-tech to Israel". In 2011, Salesforce opened offices here, Google expanded, Apple arrived, AT&T expanded, eBay acquired again, Akamai arrived, and more. We may not be performing on the political side, but we are definitely recognized as a great R&D center.
4. Shaker winning Techcrunch disrupt. On the Techcrunch Disrupt side, the Israeli entrepreneurs are doing great. In the past 2-3 years, more and more Israeli companies are recognized as innovators. I am not sure Shaker is a guaranteed winner, but I think this award is an indication of great consumer Internet businesses that will mature in 2-3 years.
5. Imperva IPO. Slowly but surely, Shlomo Kramer is building a great company. This is the model we should all aspire for. I recently wrote about the Mellanox "model", and I think Imperva is following the same footsteps. This is a multi-billion dollar company in the making.
6. The Evergreen break-up. Till now, all good news. Kleiner, Salesforce, etc. What happened to Evergreen is simply sad. The true first VC fund in Israel will probably seize to exist. Israel needs the local Israeli funds, and so far we haven't seen new entrants replacing the funds that break up. The local industry will be missing the Evergreen brand.
7. Lool ventures and others. In February, Lool Ventures was officially announced. They were one of the first in a wave of seed funds that emerged in the local market. I am not sure there is room for so many seed programs, but for the larger VCs this is great news. These seed funds will enable us to see a larger set of companies with (hopefully) some traction.
8. Avi Hasson as the Chief Scientist. Avi was my partner for 10 years. He is one of the best, and as a chief scientist he is (and will) push forward the local infrastructure to help startups. Check this Video to hear Avi's agenda.

On the personal note, it was a year full of events. Gemini enjoyed the sale of the Gift Project to eBay. Our companies were funded, including Adap.tv and Outbrain, and we even saw some awards for our companies, including Outbrain (again) and Eyeview.

UPDATE: After publishing, I became aware of a much better summary by Micha from Genesis. Read here. Nice to see we had similar views on 2011.

Finally, there are many "summaries" out there. I like the image below from Stumble Upon.

Comments

[adi]

danny
great post
how about a prediction for 2012?
if you share your predictions, i will share mine
sharing is caring
adi

[Daniel Cohen]

Adi -
2012 predictions coming up.
Will be published by end of week.
Can't wait to see your version...