Bridge management believes that an opportunity exists to identify, invest in and introduce to Ohio promising companies from Israel. Although Israel’s population is less than 7 million people, the country has managed to successfully launch hundreds of technology companies across a variety of sectors. Israel is 2nd only to US in number of companies listed on NASDAQ. The underlying factors that have spurred this remarkable growth are a highly educated workforce, innovative state and private sector sponsored research programs and extensive commercial ties with the global community that have fueled foreign direct investment. In Israel, there is a significant pool of early-stage technology companies that are in search of funding and business support in order to penetrate the U.S. market, particularly in the life sciences. Bridge has a deep network of relationships in Israel including leading Israeli VCs with track records of investing in the life sciences, serial entrepreneurs that have launched successful medical device companies and private incubators. These key relationships will generate 80-100 deals per year for review, all of which will only be considered in syndicate, and only when ready for accessing the US market.

The economy in Ohio, which has been traditionally defined by its manufacturing base, is making strides to accelerate the expansion of high growth industries, new business formation and product innovation. The region’s strengths include life sciences, advanced materials and polymer businesses, which are backed by world class research institutes. In Northeast Ohio, the presence of the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and the Summa Health System has helped lead to the creation and attraction of 300 bioscience companies in the region with a particular concentration on medical device and equipment firms. Bridge has a strategic partnership with BioEnterprise which is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration initiative designed to grow health care companies and commercialize bioscience technologies in Northeast Ohio. There is also significant business and medical research activity between Northeast Ohio and Israel including the attraction of Israeli companies to the Beachwood Business Development Center, an investment by the city of Akron in an Israeli incubator and institutional relationships between the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University and several leading Israeli hospitals.

Bridge is well-positioned to identify, manage and contribute to the growth of a portfolio of international technology companies with operations in Ohio. Bridge works closely with portfolio companies to address their specific needs to grow in the U.S. market. Bridge intends to invest in portfolio companies in amounts ranging from U.S. $250,000 to $1.0 million and limit its investment to a maximum of 15% of its aggregate capital commitments. Investments in early stage companies will be done over several rounds with small initial investments and additional amounts reserved for follow-on investments.