Israeli hi-tech firms complete first investment roadshow in China with fruitful results

JERUSALEM - A total of 15 Israeli companies from the fields of internet communications technology (ICT) and life sciences completed a first-of-its-kind roadshow in China last week with fruitful results, said Israel's Innovation Authority on Monday.

These companies presented cutting-edge technologies to Chinese investors and held dozens of B2B meetings with Chinese companies and investments entities in an effort to raise capital and forge R&D cooperation.

The event was organized by the Israel Innovation Authority in cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

During the roadshow, the Israeli companies visited the cities of Changzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, and held more than 100 B2B pre-arranged, as well as on-the-spot meetings, in order to promote various forms of cooperation.

"There was an impressive turnout by a pertinent Chinese audience. They were highly impressed by the Israeli startups' presentations and showed enormous interest by presenting numerous questions," said Avi Luvton, senior director of Asia Pacific Department in the Israel Innovation Authority.

"This proves again the great interest the Chinese market has in the achievements of Israeli innovation, emphasizing the considerable potential Israeli companies have in this huge market," added the Israeli official.

In Changzhou and Beijing, the companies participated in pitching events, presenting their products and technologies to dozens of investors, investment groups and companies such as Fuson, PingAn Ventures, Go Capital and SanPower.

The pitching events in Changzhou and Beijing were organized in the form of competition and in each city three Israeli companies could win a modest monetary award.

The winning companies in the life science competition in Changzhou were Brainsway, which is engaged in development of a medical device to treat obstructions in brain functions; Vectorious Medical Technologies, which provides an optimal management of congestive heart failure patients via direct daily indication of the heart's left atrial pressure through a miniature wireless sensory implant; and OrthoDrill Medical, which specializes in revolutionary cutting-edge technology solutions for Orthopedic Drilling procedures.

The winning companies in the ICT field in Beijing were Myndlift, which develops a solution to improve concentration using wearable technology and smartphones; CellO-Photonics, which develops an Optical Engine for 1Tbps and beyond transmission of data between data centers as well as intra DC connectivity based on patented technology; l and Brainster, which develops a revolutionary cloud-based platform to research neuro-marketing in order to measure the effectiveness of advertisements.

These pitching events as well as the face-to-face meetings are an invaluable platform for creating opportunities for R&D cooperation and investment, which together constitute a substantial tool for highlighting Israeli companies in the Chinese market, said Luvton.

"Our experience shows that these roadshows, together with our bilateral programs funding R&D activities between companies from both countries and continued hard work, bring to Israeli participants concrete results in the form of investments and numerous types of cooperation," he noted.

This roadshow was unique as its participants were selected out of 40 companies by a Chinese investors' delegation in a preliminary pitching event held in Israel in July by the Israel Innovation Authority.