American-Israel Chamber of Commerce

AICC offers an exclusive sponsorship for each e-Newsletter. For information on sponsoring future e-Newsletters, contact Shelley Samach, aiccse@aiccse.org.

Apica Cardiovascular has licensed the Georgia Tech / Emory technology and will further develop the system which will make the transapical access and closure procedure required for delivering therapeutic devices to the heart more routine for all surgeons.  The goal is to expand the use of surgery techniques that are less invasive and do not require stopping the heart.  With research and development support from the Coulter Foundation Translational Research Program and the Georgia Research Alliance VentureLab program, the company has already completed a series of pre-clinical studies to test the functionality of the device and its biocompatibility.

With the new investment from TriVentures and Ireland-based Seroba Kernel Life Sciences, Apica will continue to conduct research and pre-clinical trials in Atlanta, ultimately leading up to regulatory approval.  These efforts will be led by Jorge H. Jimenez, the chief technology officer of the company, which is in the VentureLab process at ATDC, Georgia Tech’s startup company accelerator.

“We’re pleased to see Israeli investors taking a position in Georgia start ups,” said AICC president Tom Glaser, noting that other Herzliya-based VCs — Veritas Venture Partners, Delta Ventures, and Cedar Ventures — had previously invested in Atlanta technology company ClickFox.

Nadia Bilchik

SunTrust Bank, one of the nation’s premier financial institutions and a top Atlanta-based corporation, will be the host of the Eagle Star Awards Gala this year.  Now in its 10th year, the Gala is AICC’s annual community flagship event that honors the people and companies who have contributed most to the Southeast-Israel business and economic relationship.  The event will be held on Monday, June 6th, 6:00 to 9:00 PM at SunTrust’s downtown headquarters.

Internationally renowned news anchor Nadia Bilchik will be the event’s emcee this year.  A media and presentation skills expert, author, and keynote speaker, Nadia currently hosts CNN’s Weekend Morning Passport with TJ Holmes, and has anchored and hosted feature programs for CNN International, CNN Airport Network and MNet Television (South Africa).  She is well known for interviewing high-profile figures, celebrities and corporate leaders that have included Nelson Mandela, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, and George Clooney .

According to the event’s chairman Barry Sobel (Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown), nominations have now begun for “Israeli Company of the Year” and “Deal of the Year”, the event’s two major company awards recognitions.  For criteria and to nominate, click here.  Additionally, an individual will be recognized with the Chamber Founders Award and an organization with the Community Partner Award.

In addition to SunTrust Bank, sponsors to date include Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown, Grant Thornton, CresaPartners, Dale M. Schwartz & Associates, Given Imaging, Baran Americas, SRI Travel, Veritas Venture Partners, and Jones Day.  For information on sponsoring, contact Evan Remer (evan@aiccse.org). 

UPS Express® Freight is their fastest heavy air freight service that offers one-to-three business day door-to-door service including customs clearance and an on-time performance guarantee for palletized and non-palletized freight, providing shippers and receivers the very best of global package and air freight services.  It connects Israel to most major metropolitan areas in over 45 countries worldwide, representing the majority of the world’s GDP.  The new service joins the existing portfolio of UPS heavy air freight services currently available in Israel — UPS Air Freight Direct^SM and UPS Air Freight Consolidated^SM — connecting Israel with over 200 countries and territories worldwide for palletized and non-palletized freight.

“Israel is an increasingly important player in the global trade arena, and UPS is committed to expanding its air freight services to meet the evolving logistical needs of our customers.  Our decades of experience in the high-tech, industrial and automotive industries combined with our expertise in global trade and international air freight makes UPS well-positioned to address Israel’s growing import and export needs,” said Scott Aubuchon, director of international air freight marketing at UPS.

UPS has also recognized Israel as a key destination in the high-tech sector with major players in the industry maintaining operations in the country.  While nearly half of Israel’s exports come from this sector, UPS Express Freight also is prepared to import and export everything from airplane and automobile parts to jewelry and precious gems which also are manufactured in the country, Aubuchon added.

Panel of experts including (l to r) Cynthia Pols, McKesson; Ron Stachan, WellStar, Dr. Mark Braunstein, Georgia Tech; and Rick Litzky, event chair who were joined by Amnon Shabo, IBM at the videoconference recruitment event hosted by IBM in Israel on January 27th.

Based on the success of its initial matchmaker conference last June, the Chamber’s Medical Committee is making final plans for the 2nd annual US-Israel Health IT Business Exchange that will be hosted by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute in Atlanta, April 11-12, 2011.  The event, chaired by Rick Litzky (One Source Claims Solutions) with co-chair Kobi Margolin (Clinigence), is expected to attract 15 of Israel’s most innovative companies and national players in this extremely active field with an expectation of up to 200 one-on-one meetings.

Noting that Atlanta is known as the “Health IT Capital of the US” with over 100 companies in the sector, and Israel was one of the early adopters of technologies to streamline healthcare delivery to improve service and lower costs, the organizers expect the business exchange to bring together companies to explore business opportunities in a very efficient format.  “Based on our experience and knowledge of advances in Health IT and the great opportunities in this dynamic sector, we’re confident about the success of the 2011 event,” said Litzky.

Israel has long been recognized as one of the foremost centers of global innovation.  Capitalizing on this leadership role, the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce has organized highly effective industry-specific “business exchange” matchmaker events since 1994.  The purpose of the US-Israel Healthcare IT Business Exchange is to support Israeli technology companies to tap into current opportunities both in and through the US healthcare IT market by bringing them together with major US stakeholders (including payers, providers, government and industry).

For details on participation and sponsorship, visit www.usisraelexchange.com.

The BIRD Foundation, the US-Israel bi-national industrial R&D organization that promotes collaboration between Israeli and American companies in various technological fields for the purpose of joint product development through matching grants of up to $1 million approved twice annually, recently announced investment of over $5 million in 6 new projects.  The projects approved in this cycle reflected a trend towards personalization using advanced information and communication technologies in sectors such as Health IT and Entertainment which require easier exchange of information and increased transparency.  The six new projects approved by the Board of Governors in December add to the more than 800 projects in which the BIRD Foundation has invested over its 33 year history.  To date, BIRD’s total investment in these projects has exceeded $280 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $8 billion.

The next round of funding will be in June with deadline for submission of executive summaries on March 14 and final proposals on April 14.  BIRD Energy, a separate fund for cleantech joint ventures, has a deadline of May 5 for executive summaries and June 30 for final proposals.  AICC President Tom Glaser is the Southeast representative for BIRD.  For further information, contact tom@aiccse.org or 404-843-9426.