3i, world leading venture capital and private equity firm, is building on its strong position in the VC market with the launch of its inaugural Venture Capital Advisory Board.

This impressive group of technology visionaries and venture capital leaders from all over the world will work alongside 3i VC partners, to encourage entrepreneurship.

Jo Taylor, 3i VC Managing Partner, explained: "In this powerful endorsement of 3i''s global network, 3i has brought together an elite group of individuals, who will work with us to support 3i backed IT and healthcare companies. This symbiotic relationship allows sharing of insight and experience and provides opportunities for Advisory Board members to invest alongside 3i in highly innovative young companies world-wide."

The new Advisory Board members include:
Dr Ahmad Bahai, Co-inventor of Multicarrier CDMA, world renowned researcher in wireless, Chief Technologist, National Semiconductor, Adjunct Professor, Stanford and UC Berkeley
Eric Benhamou, Chairman, 3Com, Palm, Cypress Semiconductor, member, Joint High Level Advisory Panel of the US-Israeli Science and Technology Commission 
Ron Dollens, retired President and CEO, Guidant, Director, ABIOMED Corporation and Chairman, Kinetic Concepts Inc. and Director, Alliance for Ageing Research, Butler University
Hossein Eslambolchi, Entrepreneur and Advisor to Silicon Valley firms and Technology Evangelist, former CTO, AT&T, responsible for its transformation, holding 700 global patents
Adj. Prof. Dr. Martin Haemmig, international researcher, lecturer and consultant on "Globalisation of Venture Capital" advising global organisations, corporations and investors
David Nagel, former President/CEO, PalmSource; CTO, AT&T and President of AT&T Labs, SVP, Apple Computer, Head, NASA Ames Research Center Aerospace Human Factors Research Division, member of President Clinton''s Advisory Committee on Information Technology, member of NATO''s Advisory Group for Aerospace R&D
Paul Saffo, distinguished futurist and thought leader, director, Institute for the Future (think tank), Chair, Samsung Science Advisory Board and consulting professor, Stanford University
Dr. Sachio Semmoto, founder, eAccess, co-founder, DDI, senior management roles at both NTT and Kyocera, also founder and CEO of 3.5G mobile broadband operator, eMobile Ltd. 
Yossi Vardi, one of Israel''s early entrepreneurs, founded and helped build over 40 hi tech companies, founding investor of ICQ, first internet wide instant messaging and advisor to AOL and Amazon

Upon joining 3i''s Advisory Board, Dr. Martin Haemmig, added "It''s a great privilege to work closely with 3i and fellow board members and apply my expertise to help the firm develop and benchmark global best practice in venture capital. The US has historically led the way in the successful use of advisory boards and with the high calibre of 3i''s new board, this should ultimately lead to a strong footprint in all key venture hotbeds around the globe and the creation of world class companies which create substantial value for their customers and investors."

Working with 3i global partners, Advisory Board Members will have a share 3i''s interest in helping dynamic entrepreneurs to exploit market opportunities and grow their businesses internationally. Advisory Board members will offer strategic insight in their specific fields of excellence to 3i portfolio companies, help 3i during the due diligence process and assist with sourcing the best entrepreneurs and start-ups, especially at an early stage of development. 

The first meeting of the Advisory Board will take place over two days in mid October. Advisory Board members will also take part in relevant 3i sponsored industry events. This programme commences with Ron Dollens speaking alongside 3i at the upcoming MedTech Insight conference in Boston, 18th-20th October 2006. 

This announcement builds on a year of success for 3i''s global venture capital team and its portfolio, with multi million dollar trade sales including Arakis (Sosei), UbiNetics (CSR and Aeroflex), Kudos Pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca) with many successful IPOs including Interhyp (online mortgage broker) and Magix software.