Sequoia, Norwest, Storm Fund Israeli Startups

Justin Hibbard

A source sends word of two noteworthy investments in Israeli startups by Silicon Valley VC firms.

You may have never heard of Benny Schnaider. He's a two-time seller to Cisco Systems, which gets the attention of VCs. Last year, he sold P-Cube, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based networking equipment maker, to Cisco for $200 million--a decent payout for Accel Partners and other VC investors. In 2000, he sold Herzliya, Israel-based optical networking component maker Pentacom to Cisco for $102 million--cha-ching for Sequoia Capital. Will he go for a three-fer? A source says Sequoia and Norwest Venture Partners are teed up to fund Schnaider's new startup, Netanya, Israel-based Qumranet. The name refers to the Qumra caves in Israel, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. No details yet on the company's business, though networking is a safe bet.

Meanwhile, over in Raanana, Israeli, Storm Ventures and Genesis Partners, a Herzliya, Israel-based VC firm, have invested $4 million in Kidaro, an information security startup aimed at business customers (more at Globes Online). The deal is Menlo Park, Calif.-based Storm's first investment in Israel.