Inaugural Israeli WebTour Comes to SiliconValley
Delegation of Fifteen Israeli Internet Start-ups Embodies Next Wave of Innovation

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – November 6, 2006 – The California Israel Chamber of Commerce and The Consulate General of Israel’s Economic Mission in San Francisco today announced the kick-off of the inaugural Israel Web Tour and Showcase taking place here November 6-10th. The CEOs of 15 Israeli early stage start-ups, selected from over 100 companies, begin a series of meetings today with Internet and software giants in Silicon Valley companies, VCs and other industry influencers.
A Showcase of company presentations will take place on Tuesday, November 7 at the Palo Alto Sheraton. As part of the Showcase, Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch will moderate a panel entitled “The Impact of the New Web Culture” with senior executives from Amazon, LinkedIn and Gemini Israel Funds. A limited amount of Showcase passes are still available at http://www.israelwebtour.com. The Tour’s sponsors include Google, Yahoo, Adobe, The McCue Group, SAP, eBay, and Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
The selected early-stage companies represent the next wave of Internet innovation and talent from Israel’s technology community – the birthplace of many successful companies including ICQ (AOL) and Shopping.com (eBay). With foreign and local investments in Israeli start-ups at their highest levels in 2001, the Web Tour is a reflection of the internet technology renaissance underway in Israel.
“The Israeli Web Tour is an effort to help further the relationship between Israeli start-ups and Silicon Valley – two technology hubs that share the same DNA for technology culture and innovation,” said Shuly Galili, Executive Director, California Israel Chamber of Commerce. “The support and interest from Silicon Valley leaders in the Web Tour reinforce the dynamic and fruitful relationship these two regions continue to share.”
The 15 companies which represent all sectors of new web technologies from social media to marketplaces include: BeInSync, FixYa, Foxytunes, Gizmo, ILCU, inter8ing, Kasamba, MatchActivity, MyHeritage, RadarSync, Skylow, SpearCast, Trusted Opinion, ViewScore and Yedda.

BeInSync – allows businesses and individuals to access and use their data from any computer or location

FixYa - aggregates user-generated tech support, troubleshooting, repair, and customer service on over 700,000 consumer products

Foxytunes – brings together all the players and services the new music universe has to offer, without forcing users to choose or give up anything they like

Gizmoz - a multimedia communications company with an advanced platform medium for personal, visual and emotional expression

ILCU – a social city guide where urban people can find the most up-to-date entertainment information while meeting and socializing with others

inter8ing – a blog rating system and advertising platform

Kasamba – an online marketplace for immediate and expert advice with a network of 30,000 ONLINE professional experts in 600 different categories

MatchActivity – a relationship site that uses common interests such as bowling, concerts, movies, and sushi to make finding a quality match much more fun, efficient, and honest.

MyHeritage – a community site that fuses together genealogy, social networking and face recognition technologies

RadarSync – optimizes system performance by managing hardware device driver updates and software upgrades

Skylow – a travel/search, comparison and booking engine that delivers the cheapest available price for any requested flight route around the world

SpearCast – A local business rating system using patented VoIP technology to provide reliable ratings (e.g. the best plumber, dentist or Italian restaurant in your area)

Trusted Opinion – A Social Recommendations Engine™ which enables networked circles of individuals to share and reap the benefits of their combined knowledge and experience to generate commercially unbiased, uniquely personalized ratings and recommendations.

ViewScore –aggregates product review content from thousands of sources across the Net to generate a single product score that best captures the world’s view and opinion of the product.

Yedda – a Community Knowledge Exchange that connects knowledge sources with knowledge consumers, leveraging the long tail of knowledge and creating a social network of people with similar topics of interests.

The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental membership supported organization dedicated to strengthening business and trade relations between California and Israel. With its wide and dynamic network of over 5,000 companies, business executives and investors, CICC is positioned to serve as a facilitator and active supporter for joint venture programs between the two communities. Through networking events, mentorship programs, investment forums and educational seminars, CICC contributes to a stronger business and commercial alliance between California and Israel.

The Economic Department is serving as a bridge between the Pacific Northwest region (North California, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Alaska), and Israel. The Government of Israel Economic Offices in Los Angeles and in San Francisco promotes partnerships and the expansion of trade among businesses operating in the two locales.
CONTACT: Shuly Galili at shuly@ca-israelchamber.org
or at 408-343-0917