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Tel Aviv - July 14, 2008 - Kaiima, an agro-biotech company that develops and uses proprietary non-transgenic technologies to boost inherent crop productivity for sustainable development, has closed an $8M Series A financing round co-led by DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) along with alternative energy fund Musea Ventures. The company will use the new financing to establish a world-wide production, marketing and commercialization network to meet the exploding demand for its products and to expand its development pipeline to additional high-impact strategic crops. Founded in 2006, Kaiima (formerly – Biofuel International) is led by a dynamic team of experts in the fields of advanced plant breeding and agro-biotechnology, agrotechnology, and energy. The company is using a proprietary non-transgenic technology platform that dramatically increases the yield potential in important crops such as wheat, rapeseed, and castor. The successful application of this technology can help mitigate the threatened shortage in basic food and energy. Dr. Benny Zeevi, Managing General Partner at Tamir Fishman Ventures and a Board Member at Kaiima Stated: “Kaiima represents for us the winning combination that we seek in Israeli high tech companies: a top tier group of founders, and a unique breakthrough technology. The company’s products are aimed at one of the most urgent major global needs and it has the potential to become a market leader. Jennifer Fonstad, Managing Director at DFJ added that “Kaiima’s platform promises to deliver important solutions for the alternative energy market worldwide. We are excited to work with the team, the Board, and our partners at DFJ Tamir Fishman in building on this opportunity. Dr. Doron Gal, Kaiima CEO and co-founder said: We share a mutual vision with DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and a mutual excitement at the opportunity to provide solutions to some key challenges faced by contemporary society," , "We are proud to team with these two leading venture capital groups, and we believe that they will provide both the local support and the global leverage needed by Kaiima to fully realize its potential," About DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures is a leading Israeli venture capital firm, established in 1997 by Tamir Fishman & Co, investing in early stage, Israeli-related technology-intensive startups in the fields of: IT and communications, software, Internet, new media, life science and Cleantech. Building upon the experience gained in over 10 years of successful investing in Israel, and managing close to $300 million in three funds, DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures is set to capitalize on one of the world's primary technology innovation centers – Israel. Following its partnership agreement with Draper Fisher Juvetson, one of the leading Silicon Valley venture funds, the new fund combines team's local proven record of company building, with DFJ's brand recognition and global reach across all relevant industries and markets. With exits history that includes Chromatis, Radware, ModemArt, Native Networks, Allot and Voltaire, DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures is well positioned at the top of the Israeli venture capital landscape. For more information please visit www.DFJTamirFishman.com About Draper Fisher Jurvetson Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm with a global presence through a network of affiliated funds, with offices in more than 30 cities around the world and approximately six billion dollars in capital commitments. DFJ's mission is to identify, serve and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world. Over the past twenty years, DFJ has been proud to back over 500 companies across many sectors including such industry changing catalysts as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), EnerNOC (ENOC), Athenahealth (ATHN), Focus Media (FMCN), Mobile 365 (acquired by Sybase), xFire (acquired by Viacom), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Interwoven (IWOV), Four11 (acquired by YHOO), and Parametric (PMTC). For more information, please visit www.dfj.com.
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