Israel Tevel Angel VC Investors Club Holds Third Meeting In New York

By Randy Tischler
Israel News Agency

New York, NY ----- February 2, 2008 ....... The third official meeting of the non-for-profit Israel focused angel club was held at the Harvard Club in New York City last week. Tevel, the first ever Israel - centric angel financial investors club, hosted its third full scale club meeting at the Harvard Club in Manhattan on January 30.

Tevel Angels was established with the goal of bringing together early-stage Israel companies and US investors in order to generate new business opportunities, while supporting Israel’s growing economy and nurturing its technological entrepreneurship.

Following the previous Israel investment events, held by the club in September and November 2007, Tevel has received numerous applications from promising Israel start up companies and consequently enlarged its executive committee. Tevel’s team of executive members is composed of eminent professionals, who are considered to be the top of their fields. The executive members perform the screening process, resulting in the selection of the most promising companies, which presented tonight before an esteemed group of potential angel investors. The fourth company that was scheduled to present tonight, had received a Term Sheet several days before its scheduled arrival in New York, and by emphasized the impeccable screening work done by Tevel’s executive committee and their commitment to excellence.

Currently, Tevel’s executive committee lists seventeen members from leading established businesses.

The January 30th event was a big success with over fifty angels, who all share Tevel’s commitment and enthusiasm to benefit the Israel economy. Assaf Shariv, the Consul General of Israel in New York, welcomed the guests and emphasized the importance of the role Tevel is playing by creating a platform that generates potential investment opportunities. Amongst the guests, were esteemed Hedge Fund managers, Venture Capitalists, Private Equity Fund managers, Investment Bankers and other individual accredited investors.

The presenting companies, representing promising innovations in the fields of Medical Devices and Internet, won the crowd over, as they gave fascinating presentations. The first presenter was Surgix Ltd. A young Israel start up developing a unique computer assisted solution for orthopedic trauma, increasing surgeon accuracy while reducing surgery time. Althera Medical followed with a fascinating treatment of solid tumors by using localized alpha radiation. The last presentation of the evening was handed to the innovative Mijits, which has created an open widget framework that accepts widgets from all sources and helps non-techies use them on all platforms.

Upon the conclusion of the Israel angels investment VC event, many of the attending guests requested to follow up with representatives of the companies in a more private setting with the goal of investing in them.

In addition to Tevel’s pending status as a 501(c) organization, Tevel incorporated a philanthropic arm into its activities. Tonight’s presenters were “Larger Than Life USA”, an organization that focuses on improving the quality of life of Israel children with cancer and making their trip dream to Disneyland come true. By enabling an established Israel philanthropy to present its case for support tonight, the Tevel Angels Club offered concrete opportunities to donate funds to important Israel related causes alongside generating pure business opportunities.

Tevel Israel Angels intends to host bi-monthly club meetings, with the hope of raising $250,000 to $2,500,000. The next event is scheduled to be held towards the end of March 2008.

Tevel was founded in spring 2007 by Dr. Oren Fuerst and Oren Heiman, two prominent Israeli business professionals living in New York.

Dr. Oren Fuerst and Oren Heiman, the founders of Tevel angel club, met in New York in the late nineties and have since been involved in over 30 philanthropies supporting the people and the State of Israel. Tevel angel club is the first time they come together based on a shared vision and a strong commitment to encourage and promote Israeli technology and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Oren Fuerst is the managing director of Strategic Models LLC, an advisory and investment company based in NYC, and of its affiliate venture BioVance Medical LLC, which is focused on advancing life sciences technologies. Dr. Fuerst has more than 15 years of experience in strategy and capital markets, serving as a senior financial and strategy advisor to numerous prominent (including Fortune 500) companies and investors in a variety of sectors.

Dr. Fuerst was on the faculty and served as the co-director of the Technology Strategy and Valuation Executive Program at Columbia Business School, where he also lectured on technology strategy and global valuation. He was a faculty member and fellow at the International Center for Finance at the Yale University’s School of Management, lecturing and conducting research on International Investments, Valuation and Management Systems. Prior to these, he was with the capital markets advisory group of KPMG Israel, and was a feature columnist for leading financial newspapers (including the Financial Times), advising and writing extensively on strategy, technology and investments. Fuerst served as a commander in the elite Technology unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Dr. Fuerst is the co-author of the books "From Concept to Wall Street" (Financial Times-Prentice Hall, 2003) and “Startup Companies and Venture Capital” (Tel Aviv University Press, 2001). He holds B.A. degrees in Economics and Accounting from Tel-Aviv University (dual Magna Cum Laude), and both Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia Business School, where his thesis was on the topics of game theory and global equity markets.

Oren Heiman is the Managing Partner of the New York office of Shiboleth, Yisraeli, Roberts and Zisman LLP. His practice focuses on commercial law; including corporate, mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing, contracts, intellectual property and antitrust; litigation and commercial real estate.

Heiman began his legal career as an intern and young attorney at Haim Zadok and Co. and Carmel Naftali, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, labor law, intellectual property law and real estate. After three years of practice, he moved to New York and worked as an associate at Shiboleth, Yisraeli, Roberts and Zisman LLP. In May 2002, he established his own firm, the Heiman Law Group P.C., which merged with Shiboleth in January 2006.

Mr. Heiman is actively involved in the Israel business community and is a founder, supporting member, executive and or board member in over a dozen organizations. In addition, he teaches negotiation, mediation and arbitration seminars in Shollem, the Center for Arbitration and Mediation for Israelis in New York, and has maintained a periodic legal column in every significant Israeli publication in North America since 2001. Heiman prides himself on visiting Israel on an average of over 10 times per year. Heiman is a member of the New York State Bar Association and Israel Bar Association. He is a graduate of Tel Aviv University from which he received an LLB degree and an LLM degree in international business law.