London, UK and Tel Aviv, Israel – 7th July 2009 – Launchpad Europe, a UK-based business accelerator, today announced its partnership with Tel Aviv-based commercial catalyst, Managing Investments Worldwide (MIW). The duo will work together to provide business development and marketing services to Israeli IT vendors and service providers looking to penetrate the UK market through business and channel development. The partnership’s first collaborative event will be a showcase of the hottest IT security talent from Tel Aviv, set for October 13th in central London.

Mike Burkitt, co-founder and technical director of Launchpad Europe, said: “We have worked closely with Israeli companies since Launchpad Europe took off, and their technology always attracts a lot of interest, opportunity and ultimately sales, mostly through channel partners in the UK. We are looking forward to building on the successes to date with an outstanding partner such as MIW in the heart of Israel’s Silicon Valley.”

David Hava, CEO of MIW, added: “We are delighted to formalise our relationship with Launchpad Europe to provide our cluster members with a trusted partner here in the UK. Its role is to help members profitably develop business in the UK and act as an ambassador through sales negotiations and resulting co-operation. Launchpad Europe has already succeeded in bringing our portfolio companies good business deals and is focused today on connecting us with distributors, integrators, and end users such as banks and insurance companies.”

The partnership is being met with great support from the British-Israeli commercial world, Mark Ross, Executive Director of the British Israel Chamber of Commerce (B-ICC) stated: “With the right partners in this region, Israeli firms can perform very impressively. Partners with local knowledge and technical expertise can be the difference between success and failure for Israeli innovators. Companies like Launchpad Europe can help Israeli technology entrepreneurs succeed.”

Launchpad Europe has already worked with some of the MIW cluster members, including Hacktics, ITS Telecom, n-Trance, and Sdema.

This one-on-one consultancy will be offered to more MIW cluster members, and the partners plan to stage two showcases of Israeli ICT excellence later in the year. The events, to take place in London, will be aimed at the end user and channel communities. The first event confirmed is the Israeli IT Security Showcase in London on October 13th. For more information, contact the Launchpad Europe team at: [email protected]