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N e w s l e t t e r
March 10, 2011
The Next Silicon Valley connects the dots between technology innovation and geographic location for investors, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, economic development authorities, government officials, educators, consultants and the media. Its website, newsletter and social media platforms inform readers worldwide. Advertising supported, The Next Silicon Valley engages sponsors with a diverse audience of business professionals. |
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Palestinians get $28.7 million VC fund
 In a first for an important region of the Middle East, the Middle East Venture Capital Fund announced today it has raised a $28.7 million fund to invest in Palestinian technology companies according to Venturebeat.com.
The fund will be based in Ramallah and it has money from a bunch of international companies, foundations and other investors. The investors include Cisco, Google, the Soros Economic Development Fund, Skoll Foundation, Jean and Steve Case, and the European investment bank. More here. |
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Asia CE makers ride innovation wave
 SINGAPORE--Asian consumer electronics companies are rapidly shedding their manufacturing tag to become recognized as innovators, according to ZDnet.
During a media briefing here Wednesday, Brian Markwalter, vice president of research and standards at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), said creation and innovation is happening around the world and no particular region has a lock on them. His comments were in response to a question on whether Asian companies are easing their manufacturing emphasis to become IT innovators. More here.
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GM plots Indian R&D drive
 NEW DELHI: General Motors, the auto giant, is focusing on innovation in India, in an effort to produce cars for both the local and global markets.
According to published reports , Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India, reported that indigenous sales climbed 60% in 2010, surpassing 100,000 units as a result. More here.
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Korea and Taiwan battle for electronics business
 Korean and Taiwanese electronics companies are engaged in heated competition in the solar photovoltaic industry, as well as in semiconductors and displays according a recent report.
According to industry officials on March 7, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, and Taiwan's AUO, TSMC and UMC are actively making investments in the photovoltaic business. Samsung Fine Chemicals recently joined hands with the U.S. company MEMC, investing 200 billion won in the solar cell polysilicon business. This will enable Samsung to complete the vertical integration of its photovoltaic business centering on Samsung Electronics. More here.
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China and India's Battle for Influence in Asia
Japan as an Economic Counter-Weight to China
 The recent signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Japan will soon make each country the other's largest trading partner. Both remain concerned about the rising power and influence of China, now the world's second largest economy, projected to surpass the U.S. in size as soon as 2020.
India has for some time been alarmed by China's military links with Pakistan and its growing presence in the Indian Ocean. Japan is still coming to terms by being supplanting as the world's second biggest economy, and by China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. More here.
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| Why Silicon Valley Immigrant Entrepreneurs are Returning Home
 NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw visited Silicon Valley recently to meet immigrant entrepreneurs. At Microsoft's Mountain View campus, he met with a dozen of them. More than half said that they might be forced to return to their home countries. That's because they have the same visa issues that Kunal Bahl had. Unable to get a visa that would allow him to start a company after he graduated from Wharton in 2007, Kunal returned home to India. In February 2010, he started SnapDeal-India's Groupon. Instead of creating hundreds of jobs in the U.S., Kunal ended up creating them in New Delhi. More here.
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 Diplomatic relations between China and Israel have been strengthened after a visit to the Jewish State this week by China's Commerce Minister, Chen Deming according to published reports.
The political friendship between China and Israel has been fraught with difficulties.
Only last year China supported a resolution in the United Nations condemning the construction of new settlements in the West Bank. More here.
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China plans to build Zhongguancun into another "Silicon Valley"  BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Zhongguancun, a technology hub in Beijing, will be as synonymous with IT innovation in ten years as Silicon Valley is, according to a draft of China's 12th Five-Year Plan.
Zhongguancun will be built into an innovation center that would be known internationally, according to the draft plan, the blueprint of China's development in the coming five years, which national legislators are deliberating. More here.
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SAN JOSE -- After two straight years of declining venture capital investment, 2010 saw an increase in deal flow compared with the previous year according to a report in mercurynews.com.
Venture funds collectively increased their investments by 19 percent over 2009 to $21.8 billion. The number of deals made grew by 12 percent to 3,277. Even though growth slowed in the last two quarters of the year, it was still the industry's first positive year-to-year growth since 2007.
 "We were clearly in recovery mode," said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association in Washington, D.C. "We hope this continues in 2011."
The news came courtesy of the latest MoneyTree Report, produced by the NVCA and PricewaterhouseCoopers with data from Thomson Reuters. More here. |
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Kyushu cluster woos Indian chip companies
Japan's industry-university-government initiative - Kyushu silicon cluster project houses 800 semiconductor and flat panel display-related industries and a bustling centre for mass production of high-reliability semiconductor devices, design, equipment and materials, is keen on Indian semiconductor companies setting up shop in Kyushu. More here.
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New York City Gets a New Startup Incubator
 While Silicon Valley startups have long enjoyed the benefits of the region's history of entrepreneurial mentorship, with a number of seed programs and incubators focused on helping to the next big idea, New York City startups have historically had to go it alone.
But now, the Entrepreneurs Roundtable is looking to change that by launching a new startup incubator that will inject some funds into promising New York-based startups and provide guidance over a three-month period this summer. It's the latest in a wave of start-up help for local entrepreneurs, who now have a number of options. More here.
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Massachusetts debuts Innovation Access Network
 The Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) has launched the Innovation Access Network (IAN) to connect local innovators with seekers of technology. The launch of IAN coincided with MHTC's 2011 Annual Meeting, where Senator John Kerry gave the keynote address.
"Massachusetts and New England are home to the nation's leading technology firms, defense contractors, universities, research labs and small businesses, and IAN is the connective tissue for the region's innovative technology cluster that will help create new partnerships, business opportunities, and jobs," Senator Kerry said. More here.
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Indian PE Fund to join hands with Intel Capital
 BANGALORE: Intel Capital and the multi-million dollar private equity firm being set up by Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries , will be the first Indian fund to join the global co-investment program led by the venture arm of the U.S. chipmaker Intel Inc. [INTEC] The two funds are in the process of signing an agreement, a person with direct knowledge of the development said.
Intel Cap is reportedly looking to seal a similar partnership with Japanese electronics major, Toshiba Corp , according to a senior professional in the private equity industry. "Such partnerships provide a dedicated pool of follow-on funding for fast growing companies in the Intel Cap portfolio while syndicate partners get access to strategic technology deals," he added. More here.
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| Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Richard K. Wallace
Editor & Publisher
Tel: +1 631 204-7451
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