JERUSALEM and BEIJING, August 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Israel Proves Its Place in Global Startup Scene with Impressive Acheivements
DiaCardio wins 1st place
Wayerz comes in 5th place
The competition, led in Israel by venture capital fund JVP, with Chinese consulting firm Shengjing360 , featured 21 startups from countries including the US, China, Israel, Europe and Latin America.
Impressive achievement for the Israeli representatives in the final round of the Shengjing Global Innovation Awards 2015, a global startup competition held in China featuring 21 startups from around the world: China (10), the US (5), Israel (3), Europe and Latin America (3) competed for $1.5 million in cash prizes.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150826/261165 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150826/261166 )
In first place came DiaCardio, which developed a revolutionary software that radically changes the way echocardiograms are decoded, while Wayerz, which developed a platform for inter-bank charges (billing) while providing management, commands and control of inter-bank processes in real time, came in fifth place.
The winners were selected on the basis of rankings by 13 judges from around the world and real-time rankings of the startup companies by an audience of over 1000 people. In addition to cash prizes totaling $1.5 million, the startups were given the chance to present their technological solutions to investors, as well as to leading technology groups from China and around the world, including Menlo Ventures. The winners were announced in a competition held in Beijing with an audience of over 1,000 people in the final event of the competition that was held in four geographical locations over a period of more than eight months.
The top 5 startups will share $1 million in cash prizes, each receiving $200,000. The startups which came in 6th to 10th place will each receive $100,000 in cash. All of the finalists will also embark on a road show and series of meetings with Chinese internet giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, and Xiaomi over the next few days. The Shengjing Group is also contemplating investment in some of the startup companies through a dedicated investment fund which was set up for the competition.
The competition was initiated by Chinese consulting firm Shengjing360. The finals in Beijing are part of the five-day Zhongguancun International Entrepreneur Festival, attracting entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world. The festival is sponsored by the Chinese government, which considers innovation as an important growth engine.
Israel was represented in the competition by Israel's ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, JVP partner Yoav Tzruya, and Dr. Orna Berry, Corporate Vice President Growth and Innovation EMC Centers of Excellence EMEA and the US. The Israeli delegation received an impressive welcome, and the three were asked to be key speakers at the event. Yoav Tzruya and Dr. Orna Berry even served as judges in the competition.
Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) led the competition in Israel, in collaboration with top Israeli academic institutions, leading technology companies and service providers, which assisted in the process and selection of the finalists. They included EMC, Deutsche Telecom, HFN, PwC, IDC Executive Education and Yissum.
The Israeli competition was launched in February 2015. Nine startups, out of the 180 ventures from across the Israeli high tech spectrum, reached the semi-finals. Three Israeli startups were then chosen to represent Israel in the global finals in Beijing.
The participation of Israeli startups in the event garnered great interest from the audience, in particular from dozens of the Chinese media outlets covering it.
DiaCardio was represented in the competition by Hila Goldman-Aslan, and the company's chairman, Arnon Toussia-Cohen. DiaCardio is a software company which radically changes the manner in which cardiograms (ultrasound exams of the heart) are decoded, using unique algorithms it has developed. These algorithms decode the main parameters of the heart's functioning in a quick, accurate and automated manner. The software integrates easily with all eco-cardiograph machines and has received FDA approval and CE marking.
Hila Goldman-Aslan: "We are thrilled and proud to have won first place. It was a fascinating and empowering experience. The competition proves that Israel is home to promising technological initiatives. The competition opens up investment opportunities by Chinese investors, and we believe that winning it will advance the recognition of the ground-breaking technology that we have developed at DiaCardio."
According to JVP partner Yoav Tzruya, who accompanied the competition from its very beginning and served as a judge in the finals: "Innovation is still one of the Israeli economy's main competitive advantages, and we are pleased to see Israeli ventures receive such global recognition. The competition presented a unique opportunity for Israeli startup companies to penetrate the Chinese market as well as other international markets. In light of the latest macroeconomic developments, it is clear that technological innovation is key to continued solid growth and a country's ability to differentiate itself. Great powers, such as China, allocate extensive resources to create and leverage innovation. Israel should harness the startup culture and innovative ventures to gain a major foothold in this market. We were pleased to collaborate with Shengjing, an innovation pioneer in China, as well as with multinationals such as EMC and Deutsche Telekom, and academia in the form of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in order to select the ventures that represent Israeli innovation in various fields."
About ShengJing Group:
ShengJing Group is one of China's leading consulting firms. The company provides thousands of clients with comprehensive, professional and systematic high-end training and consulting, serving as a leading integrated intellectual service platform in China. To date, the ShengJing Group has released dozens of high-end original training programs for growth-type enterprises, in order to instill innovation models among the Group's clients. The Group has successfully driven thousands of SMEs in China to innovate with the concept of "practice, pragmatism and effect". In 2014, ShengJingJiacheng FOF Platform invested approximately RMB 2 billion yuan in over 15 international investment entities. In the next two years, ShengJingJiacheng FOF intends to increase its global investments to RMB 10 billion yuan, in China, the US and Israel, covering the entire value chain ranging from early stage, growth stage, mergers and acquisitions through to targeted placement of listed companies.
About Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP):
Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) is a leading Israeli venture capital firm dedicated to building world-class technology companies. With over 20 years of experience and more than 100 investments, JVP has been ranked one of the top-10 consistently performing VC funds worldwide by Preqin. Since it was founded in 1993 by MK Dr. Erel Margalit, it has raised 7 funds totaling over one billion dollars. The fund has been instrumental in leading 28 of the largest exits out of Israel, including the recent IPO of leading Israeli cyber security forerunner CyberArk and the acquisition of CyActive by global payments company PayPal in March 2015. JVP invests in companies in the areas of cyber-security and big data, storage and enterprise software and media technologies. JVP is a significant investor in early stage companies, through its two investment arms JVP Media Labs in Jerusalem and JVP Cyber Labs in Beer Sheba.
The fund is managed by its general partners Gadi Tirosh, Kobi Rozengarten, and Raffi Kesten, and partners Haim Kopans, Fiona Darmon, Yoav Tzruya, Uri Adoni, and Nimrod Kozlovski. (http://www.jvpvc.com)
Pnina Ben-Ami | Senior Director of Marketing, JVP, pnina@jvpvc.com +972-50-621-4186
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