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Winners of the Israeli Hi-Tech Awards: Dov Moran, Avi Naor and Shlomo CaineTEL AVIV, Israel --(Business Wire)-- The IVA has decided to award the 2007 Israeli Hi-Tech award to Dov Moran as Entrepreneur of the Year, Avi Naor, as Person of the Year in recognition of his contribution to the community and to Shlomo Caine, in the category of the "International Body Contributing to Israeli Hi-Tech." The award will be presented to the winners at the annual conference of the IVA (Israel Venture Association), at the David Inter-Continental Hotel in Tel Aviv on June 10-11. Dov Moran was the Founder, Chairperson and CEO of m-systems, which has grown over 18 years into a company with annual sales of one billion dollars. The company was sold to SanDisk at the end of 2006 for $1.6 billion. Dov has since, set up a new company, Infone, which aims to change the face of cellular communication in Israel. Avi Naor was one of the founders of Amdocs. He became President and CEO in 1995 and three years later led the company onto the New York Stock Exchange, as well as promoting a number of significant acquisitions. In 2002, when Avi left Amdocs to devote his time to voluntary activities, the company had 10,000 employees worldwide and sales of $1.6 billion. Avi's voluntary activities in the community are split into two main areas. He serves as Chairperson of the Green Light agency, leading the battle against traffic accidents and in 2002, he and his wife Etty, set up the Oren Fund, for advancing children and youth in distress. Since 2004, Avi has been involved in managing the sub-committee for the Future of Youth in the directorate of the Israeli Department at the Jewish Agency. Shlomo Caine was until recently the CEO of Intel Capital, Intel's investment company in Israel. He left at the end of March 2007 to become an independent consultant at Intel. Shlomo began his career at Tadiran and joined the start-up team at Intel's first plant outside the U.S. in 1982- Fab 8 in Jerusalem. In 1994, Shlomo was appointed to head the start-up at Intel's Fab 14 in Ireland and in 1999 he began directing Intel's Venture Capital fund in Israel. Shlomo began covering investments in Western Europe in 2002 and in 2004 became responsible for Intel Capital in Eastern Europe, Russia and Israel. "Israel's growth and productivity are dependent on milking the maximum benefit from knowledge. To be able to create a competitive position on a global level, Israel enjoys the stature of the type of people who have won this award," says Conference Co-Chairman Eddy Shalev, General Partner and Founder of Genesis Partners. "The prizewinners are successful entrepreneurs from Israeli or international corporations. Successful entrepreneurship places us in a position of innovation. Mature companies bring us a better society with national infrastructures and experience, enabling us to replicate success and place Israel very highly in comparison to other countries." The IVA Conference will take place on June 10-11 and will host hundreds of guests from Israel and abroad. Amongst the foreign guests will be institutional investors and venture capital delegations from North America and Europe, as well as senior managers from multi-national corporations. Other notable attendees include: Shai Agassi, who recently left SAP, Israel Makov, formerly CEO of Teva, Prof. Paul Gompers, Research Director in Harvard University Business School, considered the top scholar in the world in the field of entrepreneurship and venture capital, Andy Tsao, Senior Vice President, Silicon Valley Bank, and Andy Kaye, CEO of CIBC in Israel. Top Government figures expected to attend include the likes of Prof. Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel and Yarom Ariav, Director General, Ministry of Finance. This year, the conference will focus on building large companies - "Start Up Big!" is the slogan. Delegates will discuss issues like how best to leverage Israeli innovation in order to build bigger companies and how this affects the way Israeli entrepreneurs and VC funds work. They'll also analyze case studies of both Israeli and international mega- companies in order to learn the reasons for their success. The conference will also address the technological areas worth investing in, such as Cleantech, and other areas with massive potential. There will be parallel panel sessions covering four technological fields: communication networks and home communication networks, Web 2.0 and 3.0, new business software models, medical and biotechnological equipment and digital media and games. About Israeli Venture Association (IVA) The Israeli Venture Association (IVA) was founded in 1996 in response to the extensive development of the hi-tech and venture capital activities in Israel. It is a broad based organization representing the diverse aspects of the venture capital industry in Israel. The many initiatives of IVA include supporting and enhancing the growth of Israeli high-technology industries and providing a dynamic platform for members to present subjects of common interest. More information about IVA is available on the Internet at www.iva.co.il/. |
