Edmond de Rothschild Venture Capital Management (RVCM) announced that one of its portfolio companies, Selis Networks, has recently set up its US operations in Northern Virginia and hired a new chief operating officer. RVCM is a division of one of Europe's leading private investment houses, the LCF Rothschild Group. Based in Jerusalem, RVCM offers personalized, early-stage investment services for technology-based companies.
Senior Vice President Simcha Rock fully endorsed Selis Network’s move to Virginia along with the appointment of Tom Hillman as CEO. “We think the move to Northern Virginia was a smart move for Selis Networks, as was the hiring of Tom Hillman. Tom is a seasoned executive who knows how to get things done,” said Rock. “One of his first actions was to establish a distribution agreement with Fairfax, VA-based Allen Corporation. This was an important move in order to get the Selis B-Watch product line into the market. We think it will pay off well.”
The RVCM principals take an active role in the management direction of their investments; frequently meeting with company management to ensure the company is on the right track. RVCM boasts senior leadership across the board. Rock, for example, is a U.S-trained Certified Public Accountant and MBA. Rock has 25 years of experience in all facets of corporate accounting and finance and has held senior positions at a wide range of major firms including KPMG and Intel. At Intel, he was responsible for systems development and implementation and for planning and financial control of a major manufacturing facility.
Senior Vice President Marcel Lasowsky is an economist with 30 years business experience. Lasowsky founded Investors Interest, a consulting firm representing foreign investors mainly in the high tech field. He established Patir Research and Development Ltd., the award-winning technological incubator of J.C.Technologies Ltd. Through his active involvement in a variety of high tech start-ups, he has molded their business strategies and made a major contribution to their success.
Rock said RVCM is involved at every stage of a company’s early growth and helps with financing; building management teams; sharpening business strategies; securing bridge, second-stage, mezzanine and IPO funding; establishing valuable contacts in European and US markets; and managing mergers and acquisitions.
“By working with RVCM, young companies tap into our VC team's close relationship with the Paris-based LCF Rothschild Group, which was rated number one in French asset management by the British firm, Sector Analysis,” he said. By entering into a partnership with RVCM, entrepreneurs gain access to the same financial advisory and capital raising services that the LCF Rothschild Group provides to corporations and governments including pre-IPO mezzanine financing; planning and management of public and private financial transactions; mergers, acquisitions and IPOs (Europe); and bridge loans and private equity.
RVCM has a rich portfolio of companies in many different markets including software, semiconductors, and media. Here is a sampling of the RVCM portfolio:
Selis Networks has developed an innovative network monitoring and management solution that gives systems administrators unparalleled, detailed, real-time information about the state of all the business services and devices running on their networks. B-Watch, constantly monitors all networks, systems and applications in a given enterprise environment. Selis Networks, founded in early 2000, is headquartered in Reston Virginia, with its R&D facility in Ohr Yehuda, Israel.
Curelight has developed patented systems for improving various skin conditions by applying Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT), a technique heretofore used primarily for cancer treatment, to the treatment of skin disorders. CureLight's unique therapy platform is based on narrow-spectrum, high-power non-coherent computerized light systems, designed for effective and fast, non-invasive medical treatments. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Haifa, Israel.
ELAM Electroluminescent Technologies has an array of patents as well as manufacturing know-how that enables the company to produce continuous and flexible electroluminescent cables in many colors and thicknesses. This low-power-consumption semiconductor product can be integrated into a wide variety of end products. The company has a high-capacity production line in Jerusalem, subsidiaries in the USA and Singapore, and marketing agreements with 3M and others.
Idioma, a leader in audio and video search technologies, has applied its patented audio signal recognition technology to the online monitoring of broadcast content. The company's pioneering SmartLog product line is a family of products for tracking, storing, indexing, and retrieving audio and video data. Idioma is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel.
Karismatech has developed a unique interactive keyboard based on patented technology. The company's low-cost WYSIWYG keyboard is remotely programmable, making it ideal for network, Internet, and point-of-sale applications. Founded in 1997, the company is concentrating on developing devices for the vertical markets.
Medisim designs and manufactures innovative products for medical thermometric measurement. The company has applied its patent-protected R.A.T.E.™ (Rapid Active Temperature Establishment) technology to the development of high-technology medical diagnostic devices based on precise, non-invasive temperature measurement. With a production facility in China, the company counts large firms such as Omron Healthcare Corporation of Japan among its worldwide distribution network.
MMRI is developing ultra-fast optical disk drives based on a patented micro-optical technology. The company's first product is a standards-compatible rewritable DVD disk drive with a seek time that is an order of magnitude shorter than any known solution. MMRI is currently in the midst of a comprehensive technical product development program as well as the building of strategic relationships, with an eye towards future production.
MyDTV tags, indexes and categorizes detailed information about the video content of Digital TV programs at the clip level, and then provides a method to automatically use this information to provide the viewer with a personalized viewing experience. Using a unique, patented technology to leverage the data in TV stations' internal production and editing systems to generate segment-level schedules.
OMAT develops and commercializes innovative solutions for optimization of a range of metal machining processes. The company has developed adaptive controllers that detect changes in real-time machining conditions and then adjust machine-cutting speeds to optimize manufacturing efficiency and to minimize cutting tool breakage.
T2 Thermal Technologies is developing ultra-rapid thermal systems to respond to the semiconductor manufacturing industry's demand for new and improved Rapid Thermal (RT) processes. T2 Thermal Technologies’ thermal system promises to bring major improvements to the annealing and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes involved in semiconductor manufacture.
Visionix has developed and is marketing inspection and measurement systems for the corrective lens (eyeglass and contact lenses) industry. Based on its patented 3D PowerMap technology, the company's products provide comprehensive and accurate readings of all the optical parameters of a lens within seconds. In early 2000, Visionix had an IPO on the German Neuer Markt, and the company's shares are now traded on the Prime Standard Market in Frankfurt. In July, Visionix acquired privately held Luneau S.A., a French market leader in ophthalmic diagnostic products.
Rothschild Venture Capital Management (RVCM) can be contacted at
www.rvcm.co.il.
