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VITAL
Virginia Israel Tech Alliance
VITAL Co-Directors:
Joe Meredith, Ph.D.
1-540-961-3600 ext. 2013
meredith@vitalva.com
Ralph Robbins
1-703-481-7494
robbins@vitalva.com
VITAL
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VIAB’s Mission
-Promote Partnerships and Opportunities Between Companies in Virginia and Israel
-Help Maximize the Nearly 40 Incentives for Israeli Companies to do Business in Virginia
-Facilitate High-Level Connections Throughout Virginia and the Washington, D.C. Area
-Help Ensure an Israeli Company’s Success Once it is Established in Virginia
-Act as a Critical Interface for Israeli Companies with State and Local Officials
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View from the Top
VITAL Summit is the End of the Beginning
www.viab.org
by Ralph Robbins
This is the end of the beginning.... for the VITAL (Virginia Israel Tech Alliance) program. This is a special issue about the VITAL Summit that took place in October at Virginia Tech. 28 Israeli companies participated. Over 20 Venture Capitalists and Investors participated. Leading Virginia Tech and State Officials participated. Leading businessmen from participated. The Secretary of Commerce for the State of Virginia, Michael Schewel, participated. All of this demonstrates commitment.
We are now following up with each of the participants...serving as a catalyst and facilitator to help create movement and deal flow. The VITAL program is an ongoing economic development program for the State of Virginia. But it's also provides a proven infrastructure for Israeli companies that must expand into the United States. It assists in providing solutions to the 3 critical problems of young companies: marketing, infrastructure and funding. (www.VitalVa.com)
The best part of the VITAL program is its creativity. While everyone recognizes that funding is always a prerequisite for "going to the next step", marketing is still the fuel that pushes the vehicle forward. The uniqueness of the VITAL program is the interaction between the various "centers of excellence" at Virginia Tech and the "for-profit, entrepreneurial" vision of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. This is an awesome combination.
Results…
It’s too early to say. The participation we had from the Virginia venture capitalist and investor community was crucial for VITAL's initial success. Overall success will depend on investors finding "value" propositions among the Israeli companies.
I’ve meet with many VC’s and spoken to many of the participating companies. There is a lot of interest and investors and/or strategic partners such as the Carilion Group (Hospital organization based in Roanoke with an investment fund supporting medical devices, research, etc.) are currently involved in the due diligence process.
We’re in the process of fine-tuning the program to make it stronger. But we recognize that validation of the program will be individual success stories of Israeli companies expanding into the US via VITAL. That’s our goal. We are stubborn in our conviction. This will prove to be a win-win opportunity.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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Ralph Robbins, Exec. Director, VIAB
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