The Arava Institute

After finishing our class in Rehovot at Hebrew University on strategic water management, the team packed up and headed into the deep south of Israel and the Negev Desert.

Our destination for the night (and next day) was Kibbutz Ketura - home of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Arriving in the early evening, the team quickly dropped our stuff off at our rooms before heading to a BBQ at the Kibbutz pool. There were all the essentials (i.e. hamburgers and hot dogs, as well as an enormous pool). The Kibbutz was also playing host to a bunch of British birthrighters, who we (actually Asher in particular) challenged to a game of football. We lost a close match - but it was still good times.

"Our living quarters for our one night at Kibbutz Ketura"
Photo by Jessica (at Israelity)

After getting back to our rooms everyone brought drinks to the roof of the lodge to watch the stars and talk. In the desert, the sky at night is really something to behold. Early the next morning, we were up and out of our rooms by 7am. After a breakfast and a quick tour of the kibbutz, we proceeded to the conference room at the institute, where we heard from from the first of a few speakers regarding Arava's mission and activities.

Each of our meetings lasted about an hour. Our first meeting of the day was with Dr. Tareq Abu-Hamed, who is the head of Arava's Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation. Following this meeting, we heard from Roy Kagan of the Arava Power Company. Our third visit was with Noam Ilan at the Regional Energy Commission. Each of these three visits highlighted a different aspect of the Arava mission and some of the pioneering research they are conducting on site at the kibbutz.

"Exploring the Aora Solar Energy Installation"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

In the afternoon we had a visit to the Aora Solar Energy Installation at Kibbutz Samar. The Aora installation is interesting in that it is an experiment in providing a modular point source solar power system - though at this point the power outputs are still negligible. Before returning to lunch at Kibbutz Ketura, we stopped for a small ice cream snack at the Yotvata. The ice cream was good - but for me the real highlight was their chocolate milk. So good!

Upon return to Arava we had a final afternoon meeting with Miriam Sharton the Associate Director of the institute. Altogether, our brief visit was a great experience. With this portion of the trip complete we left the kibbutz to head down to Eilat. As we entered into Israel's southernmost city, we said goodbye to our fearless leader, Asher, who boarded a plane to head back to the US via Tel Aviv. Goodbye Asher!

Cleantech Visits

Once again the Smith team was on the road for a day of company visits - this time focused on cleantech, medical device, and consumer goods firms. On Wednesday morning, we departed from our home in Haifa. Our first stop of the day was the cleantech (agribusiness) firm, Kaiima. Afterwords, we traveled to Misgav for visits with The Misgav Venture Accelerator and Signal Business Development. Later that afternoon, the team traveled to the Naot Shoe Factory at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai in the Upper Galilee.

After a long drive (due mostly to traffic), we arrived in Kfar Tavor and our first meeting of the day, Kaiima. Formerly - Biofuel International - Kaiima was founded in 2006 and is located in the Galilee region of northern Israel. They are an agro-biotech company that develops and uses proprietary, non-transgenic, technologies to boost inherent crop productivity. In particular, the company has developed a Clean Genome Multiplication (CGM™) technology to produce new, non-genetically modified, crops with dramatically improved productivity and improved land and water-use efficiencies. Use of these high-performance varieties and thoughtful agricultural practices can enable farmers all over the world to generate more food and more energy, while sustaining resources.

Photo by Stephen Kushner

 

Our host for the morning was Dr. Doron Gal, the CEO and co-founder of Kaiima. Dr. Gal walked us through a presentation on the history of the firm. Financially, the firm is funded by one of the venture capital firms we visited previously this summer, DFJ-Tamir Fishman. After Dr. Gal's presentation, he answered questions on the underlying technology - its current potential - and also possible future research and development plans. Following the presentation, we had the opportunity to see Kaiima's greenhouses in person. After a short 10 minute drive from their offices, we were on-site. In person, the company's technology was even more impressive than ever could be communicated through slides alone.

Photo by Daniel Branscome

From Kaiima we traveled to our next meeting of the day in Misgav. The Misgav Technology Center (now known as The Misgav Venture Accelerator), was founded in 1992 as an incubator with a focus in medical devices, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies. Originally founded publicly by the local council in conjunction with Rafael, Misgav was recently partially privatized through a $2 million investment from The Trendlines Group (a seed-stage investment and consulting group). Our host was Steve Rhodes, Chairman and CEO at The Trendlines Group. Steve spent much of our time with him walking us through Misgav's various portfolio companies - explaining their investment from start to finish.

Photo by Stephen Kushner

 

Misgav currently has 11 incubated companies and 12 “graduate” companies (i.e. pre-revenue). Misgav provides not only capital, but management experience, work space, and legal and accounting services for incubated companies. Their focus is on market research and potential, and in evaluating prospective companies they focus on both the underlying technology, and the market potential. After talking with Steve we then were joined by Tina Ornstein, the CEO of Signal Business Development. The consulting subsidiary of The Trendlines Group, Signal's job is to to provide the structure and market know-how to help Misgav's incubator companies make the leap to the next level. Tina provided a brief overview of a typical Signal engagement and the key factors she focuses on for any given project. All in all, it was a very informative and engaging series of meetings.

Photo by Stephen Kushner

 

The last visit of the day was to the Naot Shoe Factory at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai. The team arrived at the factory in the late afternoon. Opened in 1942, Naot started out as a small kibbutz factory producing work boots. Currently, it employs 160 workers and designs a new line of footwear every year. Their products include a variety of shoes and sandals for men, women and children with special insoles that conform to the shape of the wearer's foot. Naot exports its products to countries worldwide with eighty percent of its products are sold outside of Israel. Major markets include the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia.

Photo by Stephen Kushner

 

After a brief (and somewhat impromptu) tour of the Naot factory, a few team members bought shoes, some for themselves and others as gifts. Shortly thereafter, the team hopped in the bus for the ride back to Haifa - another productive day of company visits in the books.

Galilee To Golan, pt2

We awoke early on Saturday morning for another day of touring in the Galilee region. In particular, the plan for the day was to tour the many sites of primary importance to Christianity - as this was the land in which Jesus lived for much of his adult life. After a quick, but tasty, breakfast at our hotel, we were off to our first stop of the day, Capernaum, situated right along the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee.

Photo by Kristin Thompson

Our tour guide, Meni, brought us first to the ruins of Capernaum's ancient synagogue, where he gave us a very detailed description of the sites history. Afterwords, we walked to House of Saint Peter. Now in ruins, the village of Capernaum has a long and complex history. Dating originally to 150 BCE, Capernaum factors into the New Testament in numerous places. In the Gospel of Luke it was reported to have been the home of the apostles Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. According to Luke 4:31-44, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath. In the Gospel of Matthew the town was reported to have been the home of Jesus. According to Matthew 8:5-13, it was where a Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant.

Photo by Kelley Harris

From Capernaum we once again returned to the Jordan River - for the second time in two days - this time to the river south of the Sea of Galilee. This is an area that holds significance to Christians - especially many of the evangelical denominations. It was in this area that Jesus was supposedly baptized by his cousin John the Baptist. After a brief stop here, we stopped at a nearby fresh food market (definitely not a normal tourist stop) where we picked up dates, olives, spices, and my personal favorite - halva. For those not familiar, halva is a sesame based snack - that is often combined with other things like pistachios, coffee, and cocoa. It is a staple of Israeli life and is just plain delicious!

Photo by Kristin Thompson

We then hit the road back to the city of Tiberias. Our activity for the afternoon was an hour long cruise on the Sea of Galilee. The weather was fantastic - clear blue skies - hot, but not totally uncomfortable, especially with the light breeze on the water. Honestly - as an aside - the weather since we've arrived in Israel has been nothing sort of amazing. No rain, sunny every day. To be sure, it's been hot - though nothing a southern boy like myself can't handle. Following the cruise, we stopped for lunch at Kibbutz Ein Gev and then returned to our hotel.

Photo by Kristin Thompson

After a change and a short rest, some people elected to stay at the resort and relax. Most of the team however, departed for the Hamat Gader Springs. These are natural hot springs located in a small sliver of Israeli controlled territory right at the territorial junction of Syria, Jordan, and Israel. To get there you drive down a very steep and winding road - on both sides are the remains of the many battles that have been fought there in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War. Signs warning about land mines were everywhere.

Once one arrives at the hot springs, one quickly forgets the dangers surrounding it. Used as a natural spring even during Roman times (the ruins are on site) the current springs is a more modern facility constructed in the late 1970s. Smelling slightly of sulfur, the pools were almost 120+ Fahrenheit - over 20 degrees warmer than the current outside temperature. Interestingly, strange as it may seem, once one gets into the water, it quickly becomes very comfortable. I really liked it - and I'm pretty certain I wasn't alone among the team.

For dinner that evening, the team hopped into the bus back to Tiberias. This time, we had an opportunity to see a little bit of the town as we searched for a restaurant. We eventually settled on a hole-in-the-wall kabab shop. Unbelievably smokey, the place was a real find! The place didn't really have any good options for us to sit together, but Meni and Gil, our two Israeli experts said, "grab tables and set 'em up on the sidewalk." A few minutes later and we were ready to go. A great end to another terrific day!

Galilee To Golan, pt1

Another weekend, another tour! Once again the Smith team was off to explore Israel. This weekend was one many of us had looked forward to from the very beginning. From start to finish, our three night trip was packed with activities, concluding late Monday evening.

Photo by Stephen Kushner

Early Friday morning, we left our house in Haifa for the trip east to the Galilee. Our first stop of the day was the city of Tsfat (also known as Safed), where we had a walking tour of the old quarter. Tsfat is one of the highest cities in Israel - and has been the capital of the Galilee region for many centuries. Interestingly, Tsfat is a city that wears many hats. It is a very religious city - and since the 16th century has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias. Most importantly, it is home to The Abuhav Synagogue (which we visited). More recently, Tsfat has also become known for burgeoning artist's colony that is located along its many dusty alleys.

For lunch many on the team (myself included) grabbed a bite to eat from an Yemenite Jewish food vendor. He and his wife were definitely characters - singing and having a great time - even as he prepared our food. The dish, lahuh, he served had a similarity (at least in shape, though not in flavor) to pizza - though the spices that he ladled liberally onto it had a tremendous kick. Quite possibly one of the spicier dishes I've ever had. It really took a long time for the heat to finally wear off.

After lunch we headed north and east from Tsfat for the Jordan River. Our next activity - and one that we were all pretty excited about - was a two hour rafting trip. Our group divided into a few separate rafts and rowed lazily down the currents. By the end we were all completely soaked. The river was definitely more akin to a stream (at least in comparison to the Potomac), but it was still a lot of fun.

From the rafting take out point we rejoined our tour guide, Meni, who took us to the final stop of the day, cycling in the Hula Valley. The Hula Valley is a gorgeous part of Israel. Focused almost entirely on agriculture - and formed after the Israeli government drained local swamps in the 1950s - the area lies in a depression between the Galilee to the west and the Golan to the east. The team arrived at a small nature reserve - collected rented bikes - and went for an hour long ride. Given the stifling heat, the bike ride was quite a work-out, albeit one everyone seemed to enjoy.

Photo by Kelley Harris

That evening we arrived at our lodgings for the weekend - the Ha'On Village - a tourism and resort kibbutz located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The place - though nice - had a decidedly 1970s vibe to it. The Lost fans among us all immediately commented that it looked like the Others village. That being said, we were all still pretty content!

Company Visits, pt2

After our meeting with Glen Schwaber from Israel CleanTech Ventures, we departed Jerusalem for the trip south to the city of Be'er Sheva. As we drove, the group debriefed from our earlier meeting and also prepared questions and exchanged information in preparation for our two upcoming afternoon company visits.

Photo by Kristin Thompson

At the time, unbeknown to the team, our group's driver had mistakenly taken an unintended detour on Israel Highway 60, which cuts directly through the heart of the West Bank, past the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron, before reentering Israel proper just outside Be'er Sheva. We were all definitely caught off guard when - after two hours of very fast driving - we entered an armed checkpoint to reenter Israeli controlled territory. Definitely an interesting experience, to say the least! I would write more, but that story is for another time.

After a quick schwarma lunch at a local mall, we arrived at our second meeting of the day, Netafim. Founded in 1965, Netafim is jointly owned by three kibbutzim - Hatzerim, Magal and Yiftah. As of June, 2010 they have over 2,000 employees, operate in 112 countries, and have annual sales over $400 million. Netafim is the global leader in smart drip irrigation solutions for a sustainable future. Since introducing the world's first drip irrigation solutions they have led the way by developing products that help our customers optimize results.

Photo by Kristin Thompson

Our host and guide at Netafim was Naty Barak, the Head of Sustainable Development and a 30+ year veteran of both Netafim and the Hatzerim kibbutz. Naty offered the Smith team a fantastic overview of Israel's first cleantech firm (before anyone even knew about sustainability or clean technology), its history and its future. After a 20 minute presentation, covering the technology of drip irrigation, as well as a few current case studies of its use and impact in global agriculture, we departed for a tour of the Netafim factory. We walked the production floor, inspecting up close each machine along the way.

Photo by Kristin Thompson

Our next visit was to Yitran Communications Ltd., another Be'er Sheva based company. Yitran is a company based around power line carrier technology. In particular, they produce fabless semiconductors and integrated circuits that allow for command and control applications including Energy Management, Automatic/Remote Meter Reading, Home/Building Automation, Switching and Lighting, HVAC Control, Street Light control and more. Now 10+ years since its creation, Yitran is still looking for its first big win.

Amit Grauer, Yitran's current VP of Product Management played host to the Smith team during our visit and walked us though Yitran's short, but eventful history - walking us through its ups and downs - and explaining the path they see to eventually achieving success in the future. As many in our group aspire to become entrepreneurs in the future - it was certainly interesting understanding the false starts, missed opportunities, etc. that come with any new venture. Yitran is certainly an interesting company with a valuable product. The question is twofold though: 1) Can they convince the right industry players to adopt them as the standard? and 2) Can they stay afloat long enough to see the first part become reality?

The weekend in Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva was highly rewarding. By the time we rolled back into Haifa late Sunday night - without a doubt - the whole team was exhausted. That being said, everyone agreed that they wouldn't have missed anything we'd done.