Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Infinity Equity Capital Announces the First Investment of the New Infinity Israel‑China Fund

Fund leads a $6M Investment in Mate Intelligent Video

Tel Aviv, Israel, and Beijing, China, February 27, 2007 --- Infinity Equity Capital announced today that it has led a US$6 million round, in which it has invested
US$3.2 million, in Mate Intelligent Video. Other investors in the round include I-CSVC, Infinity’s Chinese partner, as well as existing Mate shareholders such as The Peleg Group. This marks the first investment by Infinity’s new Infinity Israel‑China Fund.

Mate develops and sells advanced intelligent video surveillance, content analysis and transmission as well as management products for security, safety and retail applications. The security and safety products give real-time alerts based on information captured from security and safety cameras. The retail products provide data regarding consumer behavior.

Concurrently with the Mate investment, Infinity helped Mate to build relations that led to the signing of an agreement with one of China’s leading IT providers, which will be identified in a future announcement. According to the agreement, the Chinese company will license Mate’s technology for use in China, adapt it to the needs of the Chinese market and market it in China. Infinity also announced today its intention to invest US$3 million in the Chinese company.

“The Infinity Israel-China Fund continues to capitalize on its positioning as the first foreign-invested LP/GP Fund in China. Today’s announcement is an example of Infinity’s implementation of its proven strategy to invest in Israeli technology companies alongside investments in Chinese companies having synergistic market and execution capabilities. Our strong relationship with our Chinese partners is producing exciting and lucrative opportunities that are likely to produce a significant ROI for the Fund within a short period of time. I-CSVC’s Mate investment, their sixth with us, is a clear indication of the strength of our relationship,” said Mr. Avishai Silvershatz, Managing Partner, Infinity Equity Capital and the Infinity Israel-China Fund.

The investment strategy supports investing in Israeli companies, which own proven technology that can be licensed. It also supports investing in the Chinese companies that license these proven, advanced Israeli technologies and then produce or market products, based on these technologies, in China under their own brand name. Value is created by structuring companies in China which bring together real businesses and proven technologies at attractive valuations. Value is also created by generating IP in China which is currently protected by the Chinese government. The Israeli company earns from the licensing fees as well as the royalties gained from product sales in China. The combination helps to increase the valuation of the Israeli company. Both the Chinese companies and the Israeli companies are M&A and/or IPO candidates.

“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. The Israeli companies bring innovation and technological know-how. The Chinese bring stellar execution and marketing experience. The combination is very beneficial for all involved,” said Mr. Silvershatz.


About Infinity Equity Capital

Infinity is one of the leading Israeli-related funds managing more than US$300 million and a portfolio of 45 companies. Since June 2005, Infinity has had eleven successful exits including the sale of ProActivity Software Solutions Ltd to EMC Corporation; the sale of Identify Software to BMC Corporation (NYSE:BMC) for US$150 million, the sale of Shopping.com to eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) for US$640 million, the sale of Sightline Technologies to Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) for US$150 million and the IPOs of Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. (NASDAQ: SFUN) and Maayan Ventures Ltd. (TASE: MAYN). Infinity has a highly experienced international team spanning the globe with offices in Tel-Aviv, New York, and China. Strategic partners include: The IDB Group, I-CSVC/SIP in China, FBR (Friedman, Billings, Ramsey) and GE Investments.

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