An agency dedicated to strengthening trade and business ties between the Golden State and the Jewish state is the winner of Israel in the Gardens’ 2010 Israel in Our Lives Award.
The California Israel of Chamber of Commerce, based in Sunnyvale, was hardly a dark-horse candidate or an off-the-radar contender for the award. After all, a big part of the agency’s mission matches perfectly with the name of the award: keeping Israel in our lives.
“We have chosen to recognize CICC as they are a bridge between our two communities,” said Israel in the Gardens director Susan Packer, “building relationships between corporations that work in these areas. Their work impacts our lives here in California and in Israel.”
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, CICC works as a go-between for entrepreneurs and businesspeople in Israel and California, focusing on high-tech, green-tech, biotech and just about every other kind of “tech.”
Said CICC executive director Shuly Galili: “For the last 10 years, we’ve been pushing for a lot of visibility for Israeli technology in Silicon Valley, and so we’re really pleased with this award. We think it’s a testament to the important work of CICC.”
Over the years, Galili has seen plenty of economic ups and downs, from the burst of the dot-com bubble to a profusion of new green-tech and Web 2.0 companies from Israel shoring up their presence in Silicon Valley.
Through its seminars, mixers, mentorships, missions to Israel and other programs, CICC introduced Israeli and California entrepreneurs and executives, and watched many a partnership take hold.
“We’ve advanced over 300 companies from Israel,” Galili said, “accelerating their progress as they try to reach their market, reaching capital and reaching partnerships with leading companies in the Bay Area. The overarching focus was to brand Israel in Silicon Valley.”
That “brand” has blossomed, as innovations from Israel have spread throughout the world. “Start-Up Nation” is not only the title of a bestselling book, but a credo that Israel’s entrepreneurs have lived up to.
Galili told the story of a young Israeli entrepreneur who sought inroads into Silicon Valley for his consumer Web startup. Though he had a promising product, he had trouble raising capital in Israel, so he looked to California to establish a marketing and sales base.
He turned to CICC for help, and Galili, like a shadchan, the matchmaker of old, set him up with several potential “partners.”
“He raised $6 million,” she said, “and today this company is here with 40 people and offices in San Mateo. It would not have happened if we had not brought him here for one week, where he was exposed to the highest contacts in the industry, the biggest players in the Web.”
Right now, more than 150 Israeli companies have established offices in the Bay Area.
It’s a two-way street. Over the last five years, CICC also helped bring some 150 representatives of venture capital firms to Israel to explore potential investments there. “Today these guys are there, investing and looking into additional investments,” Galili said. “Israel is no longer an exotic place. The door is open.”
Still, there remains a long way to go in terms of maximizing the business opportunities for Israeli companies. Despite the many startups, Israeli entities haven’t reached the size and scope of a Google or a Cisco. Building an Israeli-owned global giant like those companies could be the next step.
“Silicon Valley is leading not only in innovation, but people here really know how to create and grow businesses,” Galili said. “Startups are great, but we need to create really valuable companies that are bigger, and create a lot jobs.”
With local business leaders like Shai Agassi (electric vehicles), Eric Benhamou (venture capital), Zvi Alon (electronics) and Isaac Applebaum (venture capital) on CICC’s executive and advisory boards, Galili believes the organization has the star power to make that happen.
And through 10 years with CICC, Galili has shown some leadership of her own.
“It’s not me,” she humbly said. “I’m the person moving the ship, but I do it with a lot of great people.”