Nine Israeli companies focused on software, communications, and life sciences were named as finalists Monday in the inaugural Israeli Startup Contest sponsored by the Israel Venture Association.

Red Herring joined the association in kicking off the 2006 contest. The finalists include two firms that were named as Red Herring Top 100 European companies last month (see Top 100 European Firms).

All the Israeli finalists are profiled in the June 19 issue of Red Herring, now on newsstands.

Israel, a nation that played an early role in instant messaging with ICQ and birthed modern security specialists like Check Point Software, will likely give investors more IPOs in the coming months.

The nine finalists listed below will make presentations at IVA?s annual high-tech conference next week in Tel Aviv. An overall winner in each category will be announced at the close of the event.

Judging was limited to early-stage companies with revenues of up to $10 million in 2005. The entrants also had to be supported by venture funds associated with the IVA. The finalists were chosen because of their vision, technological innovation, and potential impact.

Communications

Amimon 

Fabless semiconductor company Amimon has developed a wireless video modem that eliminates the need for cables between high-definition flat-panel displays and projectors, permitting hassle-free streaming of multimedia content (see Israeli Bets: Amimon).

Axerra Networks

A 2006 Red Herring Europe 100 winner, Axerra sells gear that allows wireless operators to send traffic over Ethernet and IP networks, solving critical bandwidth and cost problems (see Israeli Bets: Axerra Networks; RH 100 Europe: Communications).

Discretix

Another 2006 Red Herring Europe winner, Discretix has developed embedded security technology for both mobile and flash memory devices. The company?s chipsets utilize both hardware and software components to protect sensitive information, and have been integrated into a wide array of devices including smart phones (see Israeli Bets: Discretix; RH 100 Europe: Security).

Life Sciences

BrainsGate

Improving drug delivery to the brain has long been a focus of medical research, as a protective barrier around the organ makes it difficult for large molecules to pass through. BrainsGate believes it has found a way to more effectively deliver drugs through the barrier and into the central nervous system (see Israeli Bets: BrainsGate).

Deep Breeze

Igal Kushnir has never liked the wide-scale use of X-rays, which use radiation as a means of detecting what is going on inside the body. As a result of years of research, he developed Vibration Response Imaging (VRI), which measures energy generated in the lungs and can give doctors real-time images of the lungs without dangerous radiation (see Israeli Bets: Deep Breeze).

Mazor Surgical Technologies

The need for greater precision in spinal surgery prompted Mazor Surgical Technologies to develop a kind of miniature robot that enables orthopedic surgeons to perform exacting procedures in the spine without the risk of injuring any nerves (see Israeli Bets: Mazor Surgical).

Software

BeInSync

BeInSync?s software, which synchronizes data between several different computers using secure peer-to-peer connections, allows consumers to access their files anywhere via the Internet. The program has been downloaded by 2 million people in the last 18 months (see Israeli Bets: BeInSync).

Itemfield

Itemfield delivers software for complex data transformation. The company?s technology allows enterprise data, including structured, semistructured, and unstructured data to be transformed into XML. This is much cheaper and less time-consuming than traditional in-house endeavors (see Israeli Bets: Itemfield).

Zend Technologies

Zend Technologies founders Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski did not invent Personal Home Page, an open-source scripting language used to create dynamic web applications, but few would argue that they deserve credit for its growing popularity. Their development tool, Zend Studio, is widely used by developers writing PHP applications (see Israeli Bets: Zend Technologies).