Trendlines finds American partner for Israeli incubator franchise bid

RECENTLY listed Catalist company The Trendlines Group will team up with an American private investment company to jointly bid for an Israeli government incubator franchise, it said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Wednesday.

Trendlines said it has inked a memorandum of understanding with Boston-based Saviva Capital to submit a joint application to Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist, for operating an incubator that will focus on agriculture and food technologies.

Saviva has promised to invest US$9.2 million in total under this deal. This consists of US$4.2 million to be invested in the incubator over 10 years and another US$5 million to be directly invested in technology start-ups dealing with agriculture and food.

Trendlines is an Israeli company that creates, develops and invests in medical and agricultural technology companies with the aim of eventual exit from these investments. Chairman and chief executive officer Steve Rhodes said in a statement on Wednesday that Saviva would bring industry knowledge and experience.

Saviva is a privately owned investment management vehicle used by family offices and the ultra rich. It is also a "non-substantial" shareholder in Trendlines, Trendlines said in its statement.

Trendlines' Catalist debut on Nov 26, 2015, was disappointing. Though the initial public offering price was S$0.33, the counter ended its first day underwater at S$0.30 on 26.6 million shares traded.

The counter rose one cent to S$0.38 on Wednesday.