2009 was Tel Aviv’s centennial year and the city’s mayor and municipality marked the occasion with this lovely clip “Tel Aviv 100″.

Even though I may be biased, Tel Aviv is a unique city with electrifying energy. As I board on the plane to Tel Aviv tomorrow, I’ll take the opportunity to wish this favorite city a very Happy birthday!

CloudShare, an Israeli start up previously known as IT Structures, has reported a series B of $10 million led by its existing investors Sequoia Capital and Gemini Israel Funds as well as new investor Charles River Ventures. This ‘Up Round’ brings CloudShare to a total of $16 million raised to date.

CloudShare offers a Virtual Sales Engagement SaaS platform that enables small and mid-sized software and appliance companies to deliver demos, evaluations, and proof-of concept projects online by making solutions available via its platform. The company’s target customers usually lack the resources to buy expensive web cast and streaming technologies, and so Cloudshare provides a cost-effective on-demand tool for marketing, and direct and channel sales.

a Team Manager or Campaign Manager, you’d be able to build new environments (eg, add servers, storage, and networks), change environments or customize them en masse, and add or view other Sales Engineers or Channel Partners and their staff usage

In the press release posted on the company’s website, CloudShare’ CEO Zvi Guterman, commented on the importance of this round:

“Since founding CloudShare in 2007 we’ve been focused on developing our technology, with the promise that it will revolutionize the way sales demos and PoC’s are conducted. We’ve officially come out of stealth mode with marquee customers, a proven cloud-based technology platform, and $10M in funding to help build out our vision. We now have all the right assets in place and we look forward to reaping the benefits in 2010 and beyond.”

Ophir Kra-Oz and Zvi Guterman founded IT Structures in 2007 and have kept the company in stealth mode until Dec 11 2009. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cloudshare plans to expand its R&D center and hire additional developers locally. With its double digit growth and an impressive line up of clients which includes asVMware, Cisco, and SAP, I see a bright future for this Israeli start up.

The Dashboard enables analyzing partner performance

See also: Globes

Israel’s Communications Minister, Moshe Kahlon (Likud), has expressed concern with regard to the lack of competitiveness in Israel’s cellular market. The problem, reports Haaretz, is that the three large operators have relatively equal market shares are acting as a “controlling group” (clearly, this is a euphemism for cartel).

From the end of December, Israel will be offering Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) licenses. MVNOs are mobile operators which pay for access to the network infrastructure owned by major operators. Consequently, companies are able to enter the cellular market without making upfront investments in capital-intensive infrastructure.

The introduction of MVNO licenses could have a significant impact on the competitive dynamics of Israel’s cellular industry – government research suggests that MVNOs could attract 630,000 customers, or 7% of the cellular market. The challenge facing entrant MVNOs will be to prove that not owning the underlying network infrastructure can be used as an advantage in competing with the major operators.

The track record of MVNOs in other markets has been mixed. In the US, Helio attempted to go up against the major operators by targeting a niche demographic, but had difficulty achieving market traction in a capital efficient manner. In the UK, Blyk made a bold attempt at business model innovation by allowing consumers to make calls for free (on an ad-funded basis), but was ultimately unable to build a sustainable business. Despite the numerous examples of failed MVNOs, however, there have been some successes (including the world’s first MVNO, Virgin Mobile UK).

It will be interesting to see if MVNOs can pose a serious challenge to the major cellular operators in Israel. The prospect of new competition – albeit a form of competition which relies on incumbent infrastructure – is a welcome development for consumers. Rumors about Google’s plans to take a mobile device to market in 2010 without a mobile carrier partner suggests that the imminent issuance of MVNO licenses in Israel could prove most timely.

Calcalist reports that Nielsen is laying off 60 employees at its Herzliya-located R&D center in a push to consolidate offshore development activities in India. The R&D center, which was established following Nielsen’s acquisition of BuzzMetrics in 2007, contributed to the development efforts of Nielsen Online, the set of online measurement services that enable clients to “understand, measure and respond to online consumers”.

Nielsen’s near-departure from Israel is a troubling development if is taken as a sign of things to come. This is particularly true in light of recent discussion about the role of NIS appreciation in driving companies away. But it is also important to remember that the Israeli R&D efforts of multinational technology companies, including Microsoft, Google and Intel, are widely recognized as key contributors of cutting edge technological innovation. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, went so far as to say that Israel “is part of Silicon Valley”.

India, while also crucial to the development efforts of global technology companies, has made a name for itself in the market for commoditized offshore IT services – Wipro Technologies is one of several billion dollar businesses to have emerged from India by catering to, and helping create, this market. India’s engineers are rapidly moving up the value chain, but they have a way to go before they are in direct competition with Israel – according to the McKinsey Global Institute, just 25 percent of India’s pool of graduate engineering talent is considered suitable for employment in multinational companies.

To draw a crude analogy, consider the wristwatch industry. Swiss watchmakers, including Omega, were particularly challenged in the 1980s with the onslaught of competition from Japan’s powerful electronics giants. But Swiss watchmakers continued to reinvent themselves and focus on the highest value-added activities – namely the design, manufacturing and marketing of the world’s finest timepieces. Today, though impacted by the global economic downturn, it is still an important industry for the nation.

High-tech is to Israel what watchmaking is to Switzerland: a core competency. In this era of global markets and global competition, there will be challenges, and India will over time become an increasingly worthy challenger. But by continuing to train the best engineers, Israel’s tech sector will continue to thrive – this is not a zero sum game. Nations, like companies, should compete by doing something (or several things) better than anyone else in the world, not on price.

Nielsen’s layoffs come at a time when the global economy is recovering and parts of the technology sector are thriving. While the life of the Nielsen’s R&D center is limited, the core technology – which Nielsen added to its portfolio upon the acquisition of BuzzMertrics – lives on. And the company’s Israel-based engineering talent will now be able to pursue new opportunities.

Israel-based SeekingAlpha, publisher of user-generated financial commentary has raised a B round of $7 million, led by DAG Ventures and joined by previous backers Benchmark (Michael Eisenberg) and Accel.

David Jackson, founder and CEO of SeekingAlpha reported on his instant blog that the round “provides us with a strong capital base to support our innovation and growth plans for the coming years”.

SeekingAlpha provides stock market opinion and analysis information from blogs, money managers, and investment newsletters. The content is provided by a community of contributors and some retained writers. Most publishers are not paid, but SeekingAlpha has been trying to increase the incentives for bloggers to participate with non-monetary perks.

As an active SA contributor I was recently solicited to take a survey which described the potential perks of being an SA contributor, including: free conference tickets, free books, subscriptions to research tools, introductions to company management teams, tools for self-promotion & monetization, access to journalists/media and just general exposure.

This is an interesting round as it may signal a move from crowdsourced publishing to a new business model, perhaps a community of experts or a marketing/sales operation for business services. More to come. SeekingAlpha was founded in 2004 and is based in New York and Israel.

Biz Stone, Co-Founder of Twitter, held a press conference in Tel Aviv today to discuss the company’s plans going forward. This trip comes hot off the heels of his visit trip to the UK where, among other things, Biz appeared at NESTA with Reid Hoffman (Co-Founder of LinkedIn) and Steven Fry.

Biz was greeted by journalists eager to learn about the startups plans regarding monetization and acquisitions. On the latter, Biz indicated that the they are “definitely interested in” making acquisitions and referred to the acquisition of Summize last year as an “outstandingly good decision”. Summize provided the foundation for Twitter’s current search technology. They will be apparently be looking at developers that manage to grab their attention, which suggests that they are interested in acquiring talent just as much as they are in acquiring technology.

When asked about plans to break even – he was no doubt asked about the company’s monetization plans numerous times while in the UK – Biz indicated that they are looking to making money in 2010 through advertising initiatives which he referred to as “non-traditional”. But he also emphasized that there is no rush and that the company would consider going public in the future if necessary. Biz keynoted tonight at NETworking 2009 and you can see what people are saying about him right now on Twitter.

On Sunday November 15th, Said Business School at Oxford University is hosting a one day conference  focusing on the impact of the Global economic crisis on Israel.

It is a good opportunity to hear and meet prominent speakers:

• Prof. Zvi Eckstein: Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel
• Mr. Sever Plocker and Mr. Guy Rolnik: Israel’s  two premier financial journalists
• Mr. Pinchas Landau: Economic and financial analyst to WSJ, Barron’s and the Economist
• Prof. Joseph Zeira: Professor of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Izik Kirshenbaum is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Siklu Inc
• Mr. Saul Klein: Partner at the venture capital firm Index Ventures

• Ehud Levy is a Managing Partner at Vertex Venture Capital with approximately two decades of experience in the high-tech industry. Previously co-founded Ki-Bi Mobile Technologies
• Mr. Aaron Mankovski: Partner at  the venture capital firm Pitango since 2000
• Mr. Gilad Harish: Lawyer and social entrepreneur, founder, chair and CEO of Lasova – a highly respected NGO in Israel ,operating Soup Kitchens, Homeless Shelters, after-school Centers for kids at risk.
• Dr. Osnat Emanuel is the founder of ‘Seriously Kidding’, an invention house specialized in creating innovative products for children. She was co-founder of Comfy and the founder of the Comfy Keyboard, the first computerized toy for toddlers.

The conference will cover both Israeli and UK perspectives on Israel today, addressing macroeconomics, Israel and the global financial crisis, society and the economy, the role of economy in peacemaking, entrepreneurship and the Israeli ‘Silicon Valley’.

To event will run from 9:30 to 5pm at Park End Street, Oxford UK and is free to attend. Register through this link: www.ihps-oxford.co.uk/conference

By Geoffrey Mugliston @gmugliston

The web has been instrumental in leveling the competitive playing field between amateurs and professionals across many fields of endeavor. From photography to music, if you’ve got the talent, you will be noticed. For obvious reasons there are some professions where this does not hold true – we don’t want unqualified people giving out legal or medical advice, for example. But there are other fields of endeavor where talented individuals lack recognition, not due to a lack of ability, but rather due to institutional barriers and mandatory professional qualifications that have proven to be of dubious value.

Consider funds management. An issue that has occupied the minds of financial academics for some time now is whether or not the performance of active fund managers justifies their compensation – on average, active fund managers do not beat the market after management fees are deducted. This lackluster performance, in conjunction with a general lack of transparency in the industry, signals scope for disruptive companies to provide consumers with greater transparency and greater insight into the investment processes employed by fund managers.

Palo Alto-based kaChing, the investing talent marketplace, is poised to become a key agent for disruption of the managed funds industry through its service which democratizes access to investing talent. The service, which first launched in 2007, allows users to create virtual portfolios of stocks and exchange traded funds, and share trading ideas among other users. Most notably, the company recently introduced two major initiatives which were under development for 18 months: Invest like a Genius and Investing IQ.

Investing IQ is an objective measure of investing talent which considers factors beyond past returns. The measure is based on insights gained by Andy Rachleff, kaChing’s CEO, through his role as member of the University of Pennsylvania’s endowment investment committee, into the way Ivy League Endowment managers evaluate investing talent. It is calculated using an algorithm which considers risk-adjusted returns, the extent to which the investor sticks to their declared investment strategy and the community response to the investor’s research.

The Invest like a Genius functionality allows consumers to closely monitor Genius investors, providing insight into their portfolio listings, trading performance and risk metrics, among other things. (An investor is granted Genius status if they have an Investing IQ of 140 or higher.) Consumers can follow Genius investors for free and receive notifications each time a Genius makes a trade. Theoretically, users are able to use this information to invest in close accordance with a Genius that they follow. But for the added convenience of not having to manually execute trades after receiving a notification, consumers are now able to automatically mirror the trades of a Genius. Mirroring requires the consumer to select a Genius and establish a brokerage account with Interactive Brokers with an initial investment of at least $3,000.

Find your ideal Genius

This is a powerful concept that provides consumers with investor transparency and aspiring investment managers with exposure. The level of transparency on offer is unprecedented – few can imagine sending a message to their mutual funds manager, for example. The mirroring functionality also provides kaChing with a solid path to monetization. Geniuses are able to specify a money management fee – the average management fee is 1.5% of funds under management – and kaChing keep 25% of total fees generated.

While the concept is compelling and the execution to date has been impressive, one should not underestimate the potential pitfalls of operating in the regulatory minefield that is the financial services industry. The company is a Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), though Geniuses are not required to be RIAs. However, Geniuses that are not registered with the SEC are not able to see who is mirroring their trades, due to regulatory constraints. This might not be a major issue for all Geniuses, but it is indicative of the broader regulatory framework that kaChing – and its users – are required to comply with.

Min Thang’s Genius profile – the leading Genius on kaChing

kaChing raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding in 2008 from an impressive group of angel investors, including: Marc Andreessen (formerly Netscape, Opsware, now Andreessen-Horowitz); Ben Horowitz (formerly Opsware, now Andreessen-Horowitz); Kevin Compton (partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers); Bruce Dunlevie (partner at Benchmark Capital); and Andy Rachleff (general partner at Benchmark Capital and now CEO of kaChing). These investors, which all invested as individuals, will no doubt help the company navigate the intensely competitive market for social investing services, which includes Cake Financial, Covestor and Social Picks.

At first glance it would seem that now is not the best time to be pursuing new ventures in the investment industry – all things related to finance have been to some extent tarnished by the global financial crisis. However, while the regulatory burdens associated with being a RIA will likely present future challenges, particularly given the political attention being given to the perceived need for regulatory reform of the financial sector, there is clearly a public appetite for new approaches to investment management that go beyond the hallowed trading rooms of Wall Street. kaChing is innovating in a way that will help drive the finance industry forward, and the company’s advocacy of new, more transparent and more meritocratic approaches to investment management should be commended. Go long on this one.

Geoffrey Mugliston is a Startup co-founder and a Blogger on VC Cafe. Read his full bio and follow his updates on @gmugliston

A report published today by BDI-Coface lists Intel as the Best company to work for in Israeli high tech. A veteran in the Israeli high tech scene, Intel Israel was founded in 1974 and was the first development center outside the United States. It currently operates six offices in Israel, and in case you were wondering, there are 81 job openings at Intel right now…

Not far behind comes HP as the runner up, with a nice climb from spot number 8 last year. On the 3rd place you’ll find Big Blue (IBM) and Google was 4th. Motorola closes the top 5 list.  The largest drops in rankings belong to Comverse (from 7th place to 17th) and AudioCodes (from 27th to 4oth place).

In an interview to Globes, BDI co-CEO Tehila Tamir-Yanai said:

“There has been recovery trend in high-tech during the second half of 2009, as far as hiring is concerned. Nonetheless, salary levels have remained unchanged, and have not corrected to the levels of before the crisis. Companies that cut salaries when the crisis broke out have not yet raised salaries back to their previous levels.”

Furthermore, high-tech employees were content with their jobs despite an average pay cut of 7.5% last year and layoffs. They like the security of their jobs and the benefits packages, and prefer to stay away from the risks of the start up industry. This wasn’t the case before the economic downturn.

So what message does it send to the start ups vying for talent out there?  If you’re trying to make a top executive in a big company to leave his/her job to help you build your dream idea, you have to give them a great upside opportunity and intellectual stimulation. Finding the right compensation structure can be critical in building your team.

China has for several years been heralded by western business leaders as ‘the place to be’. Yet despite the widespread excitement, the business successes of foreign companies operating and investing there have been limited, both in terms of quantity and in terms of magnitude. This week’s edition of The Economist, however, draws attention to the recent stellar performance of Israeli-Chinese venture firm Infinity in addressing the Chinese opportunity via its Infinity I-China fund.

The article focuses on the history of Infinity – the firm was founded by Amir Gal-Or in 1993 – and the reasons for which it has gained relatively unbridled access to the tightly controlled Chinese investment market. First, the firm has secured Chinese government entities as co-investors in its two China-focused funds. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the fund’s investments have included Chinese companies that focus on developing and deploying new technologies and intellectual property.

The second point is indicative of the Chinese government’s determination to move up the value chain and shift away from a focus on goods being ‘made in China’ towards a focus on goods being ‘invented in China’. As China’s economy develops, this shift to higher value added activities is no doubt a logical progression. But the (multi) trillion dollar question is whether China can nurture a culture of innovation and creative destruction which has proven fundamental success of the United States (through Silicon Valley) and Israel.

By developing new technologies and intellectual property, Israel has proven itself as an ‘intensive’ economic powerhouse – its greatest commercial achievements result from doing things in new and different ways, not from building companies that succeed through achieving economies of scale. On the contrary, China has mastered the science of manufacturing and has established itself as the world-leading ‘extensive’ economic powerhouse, but has to date fallen short on developing world-beating technologies. The relative strengths of the two nations suggest that there is potential for Israeli technologists and Chinese industrialists to exploit synergies in working together. And as Infinity has demonstrated, the Chinese government is amenable to supporting commercial arrangements which help build a foundation for future Chinese technological innovation.

The article rightly suggests that “managing transfers of technology and production across multiple countries and entities is horribly complex”. Yet there is a compelling opportunity for firms that focus on ironing out this complexity. By facilitating technology transfer and consequently helping China become a more technology and intellectual property-focused nation, Israeli companies will be better positioned to receive the Chinese government’s seal of approval. And further down the line, western firms may benefit as the Chinese government will have a vested interest in ensuring that local companies comply with western standards of intellectual property protection (assuming a considerable share of the global pool of intellectual property will at that time be Chinese-owned). One thing remains clear: western firms seeking success in China need to find the right partners. The case of Infinity suggests that for the time being the Chinese government may represent the best partner of all.

By Geoffrey Mugliston