Elron Electronic Industries


Elron Electronic Industries is an Israeli technology holding company based in Tel Aviv; since 1962 the company has been involved in setting up, funding and developing over 30 companies and is considered one of the foundation stones of the high-tech industry in Israel. The company's sectors of interest include clean technology, software, semiconductors, medical technology, telecommunications, defence and aerospace. Today, the combined annual revenues of the companies established by Elron are approximately $5 billion.

History

Early years

Elron was founded in 1962 by Uzia Galil, with the support of Dan Tolkowsky of the Discount Investment Corporation. Uzia Galil graduated from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1947, and in 1948 joined the Israel Navy as an officer responsible for maintaining its Radio systems. In 1952 Uzia was sent to study for a master's degree in Electrical Engineering at Purdue University in the United States. During his studies in the United States, he worked at Motorola's research lab and was part of a team that developed of one of the world's first colour televisions. But in 1954 he had to return to Israel to complete another 4 years of service in Navy, which financed his studies.

Founding Elron

short experience working for Motorola in the United States exposed him to the technology industry and he decided to establish Israel's first high tech Startup company. He started the company, while still serving in Navy, in a friend's flat in Haifa, later joined by another friend, who was a teacher at the Haifa Technical High-School, and worked with them in his spare time. The company's first products were measurement instruments for medical and electronic applications. In 1958 Uzia left the Navy, however the company did not generate enough revenues and he got a job at the Physics laboratory of the Technion; while there Moshe Arens, who was Professor of Aeronautics at the time, introduced him to Dan Tolkowsky. Dan, who was fascinated by Uzia's ideas, managed to convince the board of Discount Investment Corporation to provide the capital required to properly fund the company. Elron was officially formed in 1962 with an initial capital of $US 160,000, and within 3 years generated annual revenues of $1 millions.

First joint venture – Elbit Computers Ltd.

In 1966, Shimon Peres, who at the time was the deputy defence minister, visited Elron and Uzia convinced him to establish a new company that will develop minicomputers for defence applications. The new company, initially called Elbit Computers, was a joint venture with the Israel's Ministry of Defence and Elron. The company launched its first product in 1967 the Elbit-100 minicomputer. The company evolved through the years to become the multinational defence electronics company – Elbit Systems.

Founding Elscint

In 1969, Uzia convinced a talented engineer, Avraham Suhami, who just completed his PhD at the Technion, to join him and start a new company that will focus on the development of medical and scientific solutions, a new company - Elscint, a contraction of the words "electronic" and "scientific", was established again with the support of Dan Tolkowsky. The company developed medical imaging equipment, such as MRI and CT scanners. In 1972 Elscint was the first Israeli company to have an initial public offering on NASDAQ. By 1996, Elscint's revenues reached $311 million.

Growth during the 1980s and 1990s

In 1981 Elron was involved in the establishment of a company that will later become Orbotech a manufacturer of equipment for the Printed Circuit Board, TFT& LCD Display assembly industries.
In 1983 Uzia met by chance, while waiting for a flight in the lounge of Ben Gurion International Airport, Levy Gerzberg
an academic from Stanford University, who in 1981 founded Zoran Corporation, which develops digital signal processing solutions. At the time Levy Gerzberg was looking for additional funding, which Elron was able to provide. In 1995, Zoran had an initial public offering on NASDAQ and later was the leading provider of complete OEM solutions for consumer electronics products, such as DVD and digital cameras, with annual revenues of over $500 million in 2007.
In 1996, Elbit spun off into three independent companies:
During the 2000s, Elron started operating less as holding company and moved to act more as a venture capital fund, jointly investing in numerous start-up companies and realizing the investment by selling the companies or conducting an initial public offering. Notable investments and investment exits include:
In 2012, Elron celebrated its 50th anniversary and announced that it is refocusing solely on Medical Devices investment. As of 2013, it has holding in 7 companies in this market, including: