The Washington Examiner July 14, 2006
Venture capital firm to link Israeli security firms to Md.
By Katie Wilmeth
Anne Arundel County - Athlone Global Security Inc., a venture capital firm focused on investments in Israeli homeland security companies, will partner with the Chesapeake Innovation Center in Anne Arundel County in an effort to bring new technology to the States.
“Unfortunately, the way the world works, Israel has had to develop a lot of these interesting products and services to defend themselves from terrorism,” said Gordon Hawke, president and CEO of Athlone. “There’s a tremendous opportunity here to help these companies get set up in the U.S.”
The Chesapeake Innovation Center is a county-sponsored business incubator that hosts start-up and early-stage homeland security technology companies. Athlone will help CIC find emerging companies to host in the incubator. Hawke estimates there are hundreds of technologies in Israel that the U.S. has yet to tap into.
“[Athlone] really has a model that fits well with ours,” said Laura Neuman, executive director for the Chesapeake Innovation Center. “They’re looking to invest in emerging homeland security technology companies and we’re looking to incubate them.”
Founded in 2005, New York-based-Athlone made its first investment in December of that year and closed on its second investment, in Emza Visual Senses Ltd. — a company with a camera monitoring system in development — in June. The company has two more deals in development and is working to raise $200 million in private equity for another round of investments this fall.
The Chesapeake Center for Innovation opened in 2003. There are currently 16 companies housed in the center. The partnership with Athlone is one of the first accomplishments under Neuman’s tenure as executive director. She took over late last month after a successful career as an entrepreneur.
“[The partnership] is a good idea,” said John Pike, a Washington-based homeland security and director of GlobalSecurity.org. Pike said Israeli technologies stand to be successful in the U.S. because they have a solid reputation. “Because the Israelis have had a serious terrorism problem for a very long time, they’ve had time to think about this. To say a product is Israeli — that’s the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.”
INNOVATING TOGETHER
Homeland security companies in the Chesapeake Innovation Center:
» AON
» Armada Group Inc.
» Atlantec
» BeCrypt
» Bridgeborn
» CINTT
» Exemplary Performance
» Holocom Networks
» Hybrid Knowledge
» InvisiTrack
» Mobile Digital Systems Inc.
» Orbid
» PharmAthene Inc.
» Realinterface
» Secured Processing Inc.
» VSi
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