TEL AVIV, Israel, June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The Investors and Startups event for the first time in Israel
Last Tuesday night, June 9th, the first event of Pitch Tonight took place at the Google campus in Tel Aviv. Pitch Tonight is a new format of social events in the local Startup scene.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150616/749177 )
"Pitch Tonight is all about connecting entrepreneurs and startups from various fields. The event is a platform for entrepreneurs to meet and network with private investors, angels and the leading Venture Capital funds in Israel. The essence of this format is to present Startups in 100 seconds pitch and receive feedback from experienced investors," explained Gil Shourka.
200 entrepreneurs, investors and innovation enthusiasts attended the event and filled up the hall at Google campus. The organizers were honored to have Prof. Yossi Matias, VP R&D at Google, Sayed a few words to kick off the event. Prof Matias passed on the greetings of Google president Eric Schmidt, who had visited Israel the day before. Prof Matias also spoke about the courage and "Chutzpa" of Israeli entrepreneurs that distinguish them from the rest of the world.
After this short talk, Yisrael Gross, addressed the audience and welcomed the panel of top Israeli investors. Led by Izhar Shay, General Partner of Cannan Partners Israel. The panel was attended by Idan Katz, VP of Incubit incubator in Be'er Sheva, which invests especially in highly technological firms; Gadi Tirosh, Managing Partner at JVP, a VC that one of is specializes is in cyber investment and spoke about the rapidly growing cyber industry; Eitan Bek, Partner at TLV Partners who told the audience about the new fund he is creating for seed investments backed by his many years of experience at Pitango fund; Harold Wiener, Managing Partner at Terra Venture Partners, a fund investing in large innovative projects that have a positive impact on the world.
The audience had the chance to ask the panel members some interesting questions in addition to questions from the panel lead, Izhar Shay. Some of the questions directed to the panel:
- Do you read an entrepreneur's business plan when he sends it to you?
- What will make an investor open an email sent by an entrepreneur?
- How does one approach investors?
The answers were surprising. The panel members admitted that they don't spend a lot of time reading the business plan and would rather go over a PowerPoint or watch a video that explains the project. They said that whoever sends them an email right after the event and states that he saw them at the panel will receive a response. After the panel, Rakefet Sudri from PR Newswire spoke shortly and presented a $500 PR package for the winner of the pitch competition.
The panel of judges for the pitch competition consisted of Ayla Matalon, Executive Director of MIT Enterprise Forum Israel; Avi Feldman, CEO of Capital Nature; Daniel Cohen, General Partner of Carmel Ventures and Inon Axel, Partner of Cyrus Angel fund.
Each one of the 7 entrepreneurs that were chosen to present their Startup did so without a presentation and in 100 seconds only. The Startups came from different fields, for instance: Algo-trading, social networks, dating apps and more.
The following Startups presented at Pitch Tonight:
Reach - Social Network of interest-based communities.
Collar.ly - Smart collar for animals. Can be charged using solar energy.
Shleperz - Take a photo and get a price quote from movers.
LiveMed - Live medical information.
Bliinder - Dating app that sets a blind date with your match.
Croosing - Live streaming content.
Option Samurai - Smart system for analyzing options.
Frank - lets you see anonymous feedback from your friends.
Shleperz was chosen as the investors' favorite Startup and received a gift from PR Newswire.
The team that organized the event included: Gil Shourka, Yisrael Gross, Omri Ben Simon, Ariel Zaretsky and Jonathan Gilat.
Yisrael Gross is the Co- Founder of L7 Defense new cyber solution company, backed by an Israeli military company and the Chief scientist office of Israel. And the CEO of YourStartApp that connects thousands of Israeli Startups and investors by organizing conferences and meetups.
Gil Shourka is the National Coordinator of the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Israel, and the Digital Media Manager at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Israel, previously was the Founder and Chairman of Alpha Epsilon Pi in Jerusalem along with other Entrepreneurial positions
Contact:
Gil Shourka & Yisrael Gross
[email protected]
Meetup group:
http://www.meetup.com/Startups-in-Israel/events/221786285/
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/PitchTonight
SOURCE Pitch Tonight
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