Author: Yaniv Ozana

ERM partner and Head of our high-tech and start-ups practice, Natalie Noy, moderated a panel of VCs and entrepreneurs at an event organised for MBA students at the Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth).

The event, which aimed at providing an insight into the nature of the Israeli high-tech ecosystem, covered topics such as the similarities and differences between the Israeli and Silicon Valley start-up environments and the drivers for the continued growth of the Israeli start-up technology sector.

Panelists included Yaron Carni, Founder of Maverick Ventures; Aviad Ariel, General Partner at Vertex Ventures; Yuval Shachar, Investment Partner at Innovation Endeavors; Tal Slobodkin, Founder & Partner at StageOne Ventures and Shahar Tzafrir, General Partner at Magma Venture Partners.

High-Tech and Start-Ups practice

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s high-tech and start-ups practice regularly provides legal advice to leading Israeli and international clients from pre-incorporation through to exit, as well as on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel and abroad. Our cross-border focus, effective approach, cohesive partnership and strong team of excellent individuals are widely acknowledged by leading international and Israeli technology companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, investors and major legal directories.

For more information on the event or our technology practice, please contact Natalie Noy or another member of our team.

When approaching a funding round, entrepreneurs and start-ups can often have differing expectations on what and how they need to prepare, what investors are looking for and ways to make sure they are presenting their business in the most effective way.

Panel discussion with Q&A

This workshop will be presented by three panelists highly experienced in advising entrepreneurs and start-ups.

They will address key questions such as:

  • What does a strong team look like?
  • How can you make sure that you are presenting the right set of skills to investors?
  • What financial preparations should I make before reaching out to investors? (Business plan, budget, go to market, building out WooCommerce websites, expenditure of company cash flow etc.)
  • Who is the right investor for my company?
  • How do you raise funds without losing independence?
  • What are the accounting guidelines before and after funding?

 

* This workshop will be very interactive so please feel free to bring questions you would like to ask the panelists. Please click here to sign up for the workshop.

Date: Monday 03 April
Time: 18:00
Location:  Derech Menachem Begin 65, 4th Floor

Panelists

Natalie Noy, Partner at ERM 

Natalie’s practice focuses on high-tech, technology, M&A, corporate finance, private equity, venture capital investments and general corporate law.You can also seek the help of experts from council tax debt as they can help you in debt recovery.She co-heads ERM’s technology practice. Natalie advises leading Israeli and international technology companies and investors on their local and international transactions. The deals Natalie has advised on include domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, venture capital financings, venture lending transactions, strategic R&D agreements, complex technology transfer agreements, licensing agreements, distribution agreements and joint ventures. Her clients include Maverick Ventures, Kuang-Chi, Tel Aviv Angels Group, Songo Media Group, Tech Novative, as well as start-ups and investors in the technology, media, and fin-tech sectors.

Ilan Regev, Senior Partner at ERB 

Ilan is an Israeli certified CPA, a pioneer in the field of CFO services for tech companies in Israel, which he provides through ERB. Ilan has over 20 years of experience in the Venture capital consulting field for Israeli and Foreign companies, and served a key role in IPO processes of Israeli public traded companies, in private investment and due diligence of Venture capital portfolio companies. Throughout his career Ilan has guided hundreds of global companies in many different countries through M&A, IPO processes and more.

Itai Buchan, Partner at Lions

Itai is a former corporate executive with an international business experience, specializes in sales and digital marketing with an expertise in Socialboosting. He is a partner at Lions an agency of entrepreneurs and innovators who partner with innovators and entrepreneurs on their journey to see their visions become valid and successful businesses. They provide you with a fresh perspective by diving with you into chaos only to emerge enlightened. They question every paradigm and evoke surprising insights and new ideas together.

ERM has acted for Crossrider Ltd, the online distribution and digital product company on its acquisition of German cyber security company CyberGhost for up to €9.1 million.

CyberGhost is a cyber security SaaS provider with a focus on the provision of virtual private network solutions and the acquisition continues Crossrider’s expansion into the cyber security arena which is seen as strategically very significant given its scale and the growth opportunity it presents.

This is the latest in a number of transactions that our corporate and M&A  team have advised Crossrider, ­­­including their investment in Clearvelvet Trading Ltd and their acquisition of DriverAgent from eSupport.com.

Head of our corporate and M&A practice Nimrod Rosenblum led the team, which included associate Galit Farkash.

For press coverage of the acquisition, please click here.

Corporate and M&A practice

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s corporate and M&A practice is widely renowned for its cross-border M&A expertise and it regularly advises leading Israeli and international clients on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel or by Israeli companies abroad.

For more information on this transaction or our corporate and M&A practice, please contact Nimrod Rosenblum or another member of our team.

Past decades have seen an increase in the role played by equity based awards in the various incentive packages offered by companies to their employees and service providers in Israel.

In our latest bulletin we provide a general overview regarding the legal aspects relating to the granting of such awards as well as the main issues generally covered by the equity incentive plans that regulate them.

To read the bulletin, please click here.

For further information on equity based awards or on our employment practice, please contact Maya Schneider, head of our employment practice, or another member of our team.

Employment practice

ERM has extensive experience advising international and Israeli corporations on a wide range of Israeli employment law and employment-related matters including incentive plans, severance and pension arrangements, prevention of sexual harassment, collective and union relations and employment aspects of M&A.

What are the obligations on employers in the prevention of sexual harassment? Please click here to read our bulletin that details the legal obligations of employers to prevent and confront incidences of sexual harassment in the workplace. The bulletin describes how meeting certain standards, aimed at eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace, can also significantly mitigate employer liability.

For further information, please contact Maya Schneider who leads our employment practice . 

ERM has acted for Physik Instrumente (PI), a global leader in motion control and nanopositioning systems, on their acquisition of an 80% stake in ACS Motion Control, a well-known developer and manufacturer of motion controllers and drives.

The acquisition will enable the German based PI to develop its precision positioning portfolio and better serve industrial customers with complete tailored systems that can be easily integrated into a wide variety of automation environments.

Roni Abelski, a partner in our corporate and M&A and high tech and start-ups practices who also heads our German desk, led the team which included associates Jeremy Seeff and Laura Jelinek, as well as trainee Itamar Lev.

For media coverage of the acquisition in Hebrew, please click here. For coverage in English, please click here.

Corporate and M&A and High Tech and Start-up practices

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s corporate and M&A and high tech and start-ups practices are widely renowned for their cross-border expertise and ERM regularly advises leading Israeli and international clients on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel or by Israeli companies abroad.

For further information on this transaction and our corporate and M&A and high tech and start-ups practices, please contact Roni Abelski or another member of our team.

ERM has represented Kramer Electronics, a global leader in commercial audio/video solutions, in its acquisition of iRule, a leader in cloud-based control and automation software. The transaction follows the initial investment by Kramer in iRule in 2014, on which ERM also advised.

The acquisition will enable Kramer to leverage the iRule software platform to best address a growing demand for advanced control and automation solutions.

This is the second acquisition that our team has acted for Kramer having previously represented them on their acquisition of WOW Vision, a Singapore-based technology company.

For press coverage of the acquisition, please click here.

Corporate and M&A practice

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s corporate and M&A practice is widely renowned for its cross-border M&A expertise and it regularly advises leading Israeli and international clients on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel or by Israeli companies abroad.

For more information on this transaction or our corporate and M&A practice, please contact Nimrod Rosenblum or another member of our team.

ERM partner and co-head of our high-tech and start-ups team, Natalie Noy, gave a workshop on “How to recruit and maintain talent to your team” at Merkspace, the shared workspace for start-ups where the firm also has an office.

During the meetup, which was attended by a range of start-ups, Maki People explored the challenges of recruiting and maintaining qualified employees, looking at issues such as IP protection and employee incentives.

The talk is part of a series of workshops that we provide for entrepreneurs and start-ups which address many of their day to day concerns, from building a founding team to raising funds. For further information, please contact Natalie Noy.

High-Tech and Start-Ups practice

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s high-tech and start-ups practice regularly provides legal advice to leading Israeli and international clients from pre-incorporation through to exit, as well as on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel and abroad. Our cross-border focus, effective approach, cohesive partnership and strong team of excellent individuals are widely acknowledged by leading international and Israeli technology companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, investors and major legal directories.

For more information on the event or our technology practice, please contact Natalie Noy or another member of our team.

ERM was delighted to host prominent members of the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Justice, a government body of Ningbo, a city that has recently been ranked among the top five most competitive cities in China and has been described by the UN as the most promising city in China.

The delegation was designed to facilitate cooperation with the government of Ningbo in the fields of business, law and international collaboration, and comes amid a rapidly growing number of Chinese clients instructing ERM in relation to their investments in Israel.

Welcoming the distinguished guests were members of our corporate and M&A, technology and energy and infrastructure teams including partners Simon Marks and Asaf Rimon as well as Maya Schneider who leads our employment practice.

Among the delegates were the Deputy Director General and Section Chiefs of the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Justice, the Director of the Ningbo Tianyi Notary Public Office, the Deputy Director General of Fenghua City Bureau of Justice and the Deputy Director General of the Xiangshan County Bureau of Justice.

Corporate and M&A, Technology and Energy and Infrastructure Practices

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s corporate and M&A and high-tech and start-ups practices are widely renowned for their cross-border expertise and ERM regularly advises leading Israeli and international clients on the most complex transactions carried out in Israel or by Israeli companies abroad.

We are also considered a market leader in the renewable energy market, regularly acting for many of the leading Israeli and international owners, developers, EPC contractors and financiers in this sector.

For further information on ERM’s high-tech and start-ups, corporate and M&A, energy and infrastructure and China practices, please contact Simon Marks or Asaf Rimon.

ERM has acted as Israeli counsel and lead external counsel for Barclays on a strategic loan facility to Stride Gaming, the multi-branded online soft gaming operator.

The committed facility will refinance an existing loan extended to the company by its shareholder Poppy Investments.

For media coverage of the loan facility, please click here.

Banking and Finance practice

ERM (Epstein Rosenblum Maoz)’s banking and finance practice has gained extensive experience advising international and Israeli commercial and investment banks, corporates and funds on a broad range of financing transactions, including syndicated loans, acquisition finance, leverage finance and structured finance.

For more information on the loan facility or our banking and finance practice, please contact Amnon Epstein or another member of our team.