Infinity makes first investment from Israel-China fund

In October, Infinity started raising money for the new $150m. Infinity III fund, to invest in Israeli technology companies and Chinese companies that have the licenses for the technologies.

By AVI KRAWITZ
The new Israel-China Fund of Infinity Equity Capital made its first investment, leading a $6 million financing round in Israeli company Mate Intelligent Video, the venture capital firm said Tuesday. Infinity said its involvement in the round extended beyond its $3.2m. portion of the investment and that it helped Mate build relations that led to the signing an agreement with an unnamed Chinese IT provider. "The Chinese company will license Mate's technology for use in China, adapt it to the needs of the Chinese market and market it there," Infinity said, adding that it intends to invest $3m. in the Chinese company. In October, Infinity started raising money for the new $150m. Infinity III fund, to invest in Israeli technology companies and Chinese companies that have the licenses for the technologies. A spokesperson for the fund declined to comment on how much of the fund it has raised to date or when it expects to complete the fundraising. "Our strong relationship with our Chinese partners is producing exciting and lucrative opportunities that are likely to produce a significant return on investment for the Fund within a short period of time," said Avishai Silvershatz, managing partner of Infinity Equity Capital and the Infinity Israel-China Fund. "It's a mutually beneficial relationship. The Israeli companies bring innovation and technological know-how and the Chinese bring stellar execution and marketing experience. The combination is very beneficial for all involved." Mate, which develops intelligent video surveillance, content analysis, transmission and management products for security, safety and retail applications, was established in 1997 and has raised approximately $17m. in previous fundraising rounds. Alon Blankstein, chief financial officer at Mate, said the company would use the new funding to expand its marketing and sales activities and to advance its next generation of products. "We've had sales activities in China before but this puts us in a completely different game now," Blankstein said of the China agreement.