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What Bablyon’s new IPO filing has to say about the Israeli economy and talent

What Bablyon’s new IPO filing has to say about the Israeli economy and talent

Nov 6, 2012 |

Global translation software firm, Bablyon (I’m sure you’ve seen its ads) has just filed to raise $115M. The firm, already trading in Tel Aviv for years, will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “BBYL”. The Israeli hi-tech firm’s marketcap on the TASE is just over the equivalent of $410M. The firm’s been on fire — seriously boosting traffic and revenues to the site. The company said it receives over 30M daily unique visitors to the site (wow) and has been growing its revenues at a 66% CAGR the last 3 years. Talent, startups, and future Israeli IPOs Reading through company prospectuses — especially, the section with risks to their businesses — can be extremely educational (when we launch a startup for funding on our platform, we perform a similar analysis). Front and center in the Babylon F-1 is a statement about Israeli talent — the lifeblood of any startup. [bra_blockquote align=””]Our business relies on the significant experience and expertise of our senior management and technical staff and we must continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel...

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Make conferences really useful with Bizzabo app

Make conferences really useful with Bizzabo app

Nov 2, 2012 |

For many years now, business conferences have become great ways to meet new people, create business partners, and ultimately grow your bottom line. But nowadays, conferences have grown so large that it is nearly impossible to identify the people you want to meet! Additionally, how could anyone know who you are? There may be a golden opportunity standing in front of you that you don’t even know existed. Making attending conferences more productive Bizzabo is a smartphone application that fixes this problem. The application enables real time business opportunities at conferences and events by allowing the user to actively search for and find his or her perfect business match. Bizzabo uses advances algorithms based on users’ business profiles to suggest the most suitable matches, making the people you meet well worth your time. The application also suggests you as a match for other people there, relays real time event updates, and allows the user to manage future and past events. Who knows — with Bizzabo, maybe you’ll also find someone to hang out with at the bar AFTER the...

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How OurCrowd chooses startup investments

How OurCrowd chooses startup investments

Nov 1, 2012 | ,

We frequently get asked about our investment methodology. Our investment process has been honed by the decades of investing experience our senior management has. One interesting note: Our founder and CEO, Jon Medved, managed a startup portfolio of almost $300M. The rest of OurCrowd’s management team has serious chops, too. We’ve all got experience building and running our own companies, management consulting, equity research, investment banking, and portfolio management. **Remember, though OurCrowd members can choose to invest in as many (or little) of the companies we list for investment, OurCrowd invests in every deal we show to investors. We’re ponying our own money up alongside the crowd. So, what do we look for in making an investment in a startup? OurCrowd’s 5 point investment checklist Great team: Successful startups are founded by great people. So, when we look at potential investments, we give serial entrepreneurs special attention. We’re looking for people who have built and managed companies. Failures are OK, too. It’s the process of realizing an idea, building out a plan that we’re looking for.  Great people are...

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Now, investors in Israeli startups will have an easier time monetizing their shares

Now, investors in Israeli startups will have an easier time monetizing their shares

Oct 30, 2012 |

Markets for shares in private companies have seen a roller-coaster of a ride the past few years. Companies like Sharespost and Secondshares, were thriving firms, enabling founders and early investors in startups to sell some or all of their stakes — without the need for an IPO or M&A transaction. These markets were a godsend for many entrepreneurs and early-stage investors. But that was all before Facebook IPO’d. The massive social network provided so much of the liquidity on these exchanges that after Facebook went public, these markets saw their liquidity dry up. Matching supply and demand in private shares Low liquidity in private shares markets amplifies the effects of small transactions. Just like in thinly-traded stocks on Wall Street, one buyer or seller can cause share prices to swing wildly given the large differences in Bid and Ask prices. Same thing goes for private shares. If a founder is looking to unload a portion of his stake, just the signal of a seller in the private stock could send the stock price reeling. Major stock exchange, Nasdaq believes...

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CellBuddy can be your mobile roaming friend

CellBuddy can be your mobile roaming friend

Oct 24, 2012 |

Traveling abroad is many times a huge pain in the neck. Along with the costs of traveling, renting cars, hotel rooms, and food, one must pay outrageous international plans to use cellphones. There is finally an affordable and easy way to text, call, and use data on your cellphone, regardless of where you travel. CellBuddy works like this: the technology is in a phone case that not only enables the user to use the phone as normal, but also protects the phone at the same time. The case contains a modem that communicates with the SIM card, which is managed by CellBuddy’s servers. CellBuddy’s servers then enable you to do whatever action you so please; similar to the way AT&T and Verizon allow a person to use his phone every day. < The CellBuddy Roaming solution from Asaf Naim on Vimeo. CellBuddy has tapped into an untapped market with virtually no competitors. They say that the global roaming market is more than $50 billion, and the company’s target market, business travelers, represent 65% of that. As a person that...

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