For release: July 30, 2007

More than 60 Companies Attend U.S.-Israel New Media Business Exchange in Atlanta

Produces over 300 On-On-One “Speed Dates” for Israeli and North American Companies to Explore Business

Twenty emerging Israeli and Southeast US companies joined more than 40 leading North American companies in the new media industry in Atlanta this week for the first-ever U.S.-Israel New Media Business Exchange.  Held July 25 – 26 at the Atlanta corporate campus of Turner Broadcasting, the event offered an unparalleled opportunity for the emerging companies to present themselves and have pre-arranged and pre-qualified meetings with leading companies from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to foster joint venture R&D, investment, content and marketing alliances.

The event was hosted by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and organized by the Atlanta-based American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region (AICC) in partnership with Microsoft.  The Exchange offered a unique peer-to-peer networking experience and innovative business matchmaking framework, and for the North American companies, a very concise and productive forum to gain advanced exposure to a wide range of cutting-edge technologies from Israel and the Southeast US. 

 “The New Media Exchange was a unique opportunity for us to meet with a number of pre-qualified companies in the new media arena whose products and services are relevant to our business,” said David Rudolph, SVP, Strategy and New Products, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company based in Atlanta that is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

“This event showcased Israeli companies and their innovative technologies to this important business sector. Israel is a hotbed for these technologies, and we had an abundance of compelling companies from which to choose,” said Laurie Olivier, board chairman of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Atlanta-based partner of Veritas Venture Partners of Herzliya, Israel.

Attendees expressed strong praise for the New Media Exchange:

·         Dyuna (www.dyuna.com), Uri Admon, co-founder and CEO (Tel Aviv, Israel-based):  “In less than two days, we met 17 companies, every one worth a trip alone.  A key point was that we met the right people  who received information on Dyuna in advance and came prepared for our meetings.  We left Atlanta with a number of strong open leads.”

Dyuna allows content providers to move content globally to the mobile environment.  In the past, content providers had to make deals with each individual mobile carrier.  The company recently won the Red Herring award for Europe.

·         AOL Music Network, Moviefone, AOLTV, Director of Products Grant Cerny (New York):  “The New Media Business Exchange was a hit in my book.  The spirit of genuine, positive conversation was alive and actually stirred a sense of inquiry in me that I haven't fully felt since graduate school.  I have a few takeaways with companies that are logical matches for me and my work.”

·         Arootz (www.arootz.com), Sivan Tafla, VP Content and Adverting (Netanya, Israel-based): “This event gave us the opportunity to meet relevant companies and potential investors.  The event was very well organized and it opened a number of doors for us at major companies.”

Arootz has created an innovative content delivery network to deliver HDTV content. 

Participating North American companies included Turner Broadcasting, Microsoft, Time Warner, AOL, Warner Brothers, HBO, Intel Capital, Time, Inc., Time Warner Investments, Arris, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Veritas Venture Partners, IDG Ventures, Castille Ventures, the Weather Channel, Intent Media Works, Cox Enterprises, Ericcson, Pulvermedia, Cablemas, and Comcast Interactive Capital.

The Israeli and Southeast emerging companies were selected for participation based on their expertise and innovation in specific technology categories that were identified by the major US companies including Web Applications, Community Tools / Collaborative Software, Security and DRM, Analytics,  Emerging Ad Technologies, Advanced Video Applications, Wireless and Mobile Technologies, Gaming and Virtual Worlds, Consumer Electronics, and  Content / Rights Aggregation.   The companies included 5min, Arootz, Asankya, blogTV, Digitalsmiths, Dyuna, Exent, Gumiyo, Hingi, i-Mature, MuseStorm, Oversi, Pando, Playcast, PLYmedia, Radvision, Scopus Video Networks, SimplyGen, SpeedBit, and VBox.

New Media Event Builds on Previous Successful Exchanges

            In 2006, 27 emerging Israeli companies joined eight emerging Southeast companies who came to  Atlanta to attend the second annual U.S.-Israel Broadband Business Exchange, organized by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region in partnership with Cox Communications and CableLabs®. In less than 24 hours, the innovative matchmaker event produced more than 600 one-on-one meetings for them with major U.S. companies producing business relationships, investments, joint ventures, and the decision of several Israeli firms to establish their US headquarters in Atlanta.  AICC invented the Business Exchange economic development model in 1994, and subsequently has organized 13 matchmaker events in Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, and Huntsville in various fields of telecommunications, medical technologies, software, automotive, and aerospace.

“The New Media Business Exchange was a great opportunity to bring together emerging technologies with the communications industry,” said Gabriele Di Piazza, managing director for the Media and Entertainment Group in the Communications Sector at Microsoft Corp.  “We look forward to establishing key relationships with potential media partners and were pleased to sponsor this event.

“Atlanta is a major center for telecommunications and new media entertainment such as gaming, with significant leadership in cable broadband,” said Christopher Klaus, CEO & founder of Kaneva and vice chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s technology marketing council.  “With access to world-class research universities, high-tech companies and a talented workforce, Atlanta is continuing to attract emerging businesses.”

Additional sponsors of the event included the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (Platinum), Delta Air Lines, CarterBaldwin, Vyyo, and Greenberg Traurig (Gold), ARRIS and Consulate General of Israel (Bronze), and MIT Enterprise Forum, Atlanta Venture Forum, GlobalEXECWomen, and BIRD Foundation (Organization Co-Sponsors).

The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce is a bi-national business association with the mission of increasing economic development by fostering understanding, cooperation, and business relationships between Israel and the Southeast. AICC is a proud affiliate of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Since its founding in 1992, AICC has been involved in completed transactions valued at more than $900 million, creating jobs and benefiting the economies of both Israel and the Southeast. AICC targets a range of projects involving import, export, research & development, direct investment and joint ventures. Key areas of focus include software, telecommunications, energy, medical technologies and security.

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