Risk taker: Laurel Bowden, general partner, and Erel Margalit, managing partner, of Jerusalem Venture Partners.
Company: Founded in 1993, JVP is an international venture capital firm with offices in New York, London and Jerusalem. It invests in early-stage companies in six core areas: carrier services, components/semiconductors, communications and enterprise software, enterprise networking and services. With more than $650 million (£420 million) under management, it has invested in almost 30 companies, including Chromatis Networks, Netro Corporation, Precise Software Solutions and Cogent Communications, producing top-quartile returns for its investors.
Success story: Native Networks supplies next-generation telecoms equipment to service providers and their corporate customers. Its infrastructure solutions enable cost-effective delivery of broadband data and voice services over existing networks, providing carriers with new revenue streams from existing investments.
The company was founded by two Israeli entrepreneurs, Gillan Goran and Menahem Kaplan, with seed funding from JVP in October 1999. JVP and Soros Private Equity Partners led a B round of funding in August 2000, when a total of $18 million was invested. With Native’s products on the market and significant commercial agreements signed, investors are in the initial stages of a C round of funding. So far Native has focused on a market entry in Europe through its London headquarters and development facility in Israel, achieving success through a partnership with Europe’s leading optical vendor and worldwide integrators and resellers of the calibre of Pandatel. In the next phase it will take similar approaches in the US and Asian markets, where JVP expects to play a significant role in this process.
Having introduced several products to the market, Native is gaining a reputation for leadership in the field. The future will bring enhancements to the existing portfolio and new market-leading solutions through partnerships with top-tier telecoms vendors. The firm expects significant revenues in 2003 and plans to become cash-positive in 2004.
