Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Proficiency pulls in $4.25M in Israeli VC funds

Software maker Proficiency Inc. reports closing a $4.25 million round of financing from three Israeli venture capital firms.

Proficiency, which develops software applications for manufacturers and suppliers to extract and share product knowledge, raised the funding from Catalyst Investment, Carmel Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital, all Israel-based private equity firms. The company plans to use the capital to expand its marketing and develop new applications, officials said.

Marlborough-based Proficiency was founded in 1998.

Contacted in February 2007, when Proficiency reported raising $5 million in funding from Carmel Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital, the company declined to further discuss the investment or detail specific amounts of earlier investments. In 2001, Proficiency did report, however, receiving $27.4 million in a second major round of financing, increasing total venture funding at that time to nearly $38 million.

In December 2006, Proficiency appointed as CEO Alex Shapira, a former vice president of production management at Texas-based UGS Corp., a developer of product life cycle management software.

The company lists customers in the automotive, aerospace-defense and heavy equipment industries such as Ford Motor Co., the Boeing Co., Bombardier Inc., and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.