Siemens Venture Capital looking for deals in Israel

LONDON -- Siemens Venture Capital GmbH has extended its activities in Israel and is looking to identify and fund investments in emerging and innovative technologies the company said recently. The domains of interest include information, communications and security technologies, automation and control, medical, transportation and power, the company said.

The company said it has appointed Heike Wiegand to take over as investment associate handling venture capital inquiries working out of the Siemens Israel Ltd. office located in Rosh Haayin near Tel Aviv.

"We are actively looking for interesting deals that fall into our investment focus. Our plan is to close at least two or three deals within the next 12 months," said Wiegand, in a statement.

Siemens Venture Capital has been in the Israeli market for some time having invested in eight companies, most recently BroadLight Inc. To date, SVC has invested some 500 million euros (about US$600 million) in more than 70 start-up companies and 30 venture capital funds mainly in North America, Europe and Israel. Approximately 20 percent of the investments have been Israel based.

"The high-tech industry in Israel, combined with Siemens' worldwide presence and resources is a winning combination. With our local presence the penetration into the local venture capital and startup community will be closer and more effective," said Bjoern Eske Christensen, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Venture Capital, in the same statement.