Globes

Israel Makov invests in Eltav Wireless Monitoring

The company is in the Kinarot-Jordan Valley Technology Incubator.

Merav Ankori

21 May 08 15:10

Sources inform ''Globes'' that former Teva CEO Israel Makov has led the second financing round in Kinarot-Jordan Valley Technology Incubator portfolio company Eltav Wireless Monitoring Ltd., which is developing wireless monitoring solutions for industrial ball valves. Makov will become chairman of the company. The company will use the proceeds to complete development of its product, obtain the necessary certification for it, and begin production and sales later this year.

Eltav CEO Israel Radomsky, marketing manager Reuben Fuchs, and Israel Kalman founded the company. The company's target market is the process industry, including pharmaceutical companies, oil refineries, food companies, and desalination and water treatment plants.

A typical refinery has, for example, hundreds of thousands of ball valves, giving an indication of the size of the market. The company attaches sensors to valves, which verify their proper functioning. These sensors send wireless signals to central control rooms. Currently, most sensors are wired to control rooms, with all that this entails. In effect, Eltav builds a communications network, which is also low on energy consumption. The sensors' batteries last five years, greatly reducing electricity consumption and its related costs.

In addition to Makov and Kinarot, the other shareholder in Eltav is Habonim Industrial Valves & Actuators Ltd. from Kfar Nahassi.

Radomsky is a member of the ISA standards committee. The ISA is a global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation, which recently released the Wireless HART standard, which might help Eltav penetrate the market.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 21, 2008