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Tag: Kramer Electronics

  • Fortissimo Capital Fund acquires a controlling stake in Kramer Electronics

    Fortissimo Capital Fund acquires a controlling stake in Kramer Electronics

    JERUSALEM – Fortissimo Capital Fund acquired a majority interest in Kramer Electronics, a leading player and pioneer in the Pro AV industry. Michael and Ben-Zion Hochstein, two of the company’s founders retain their interests in the company, while Dr. Joseph Kramer, an entrepreneur and the founder of Kramer Electronics is retiring from the company.

    Kramer Electronics develops, manufactures and markets an extensive and innovative pro-AV portfolio of products and solutions for corporate, education, command and control, government, live events, healthcare, and other applications.

    Fortissimo Capital Fund is a leading private equity fund based in Israel, with proven capabilities to facilitate the growth of technology companies. Fortissimo manages $1.6 billion in capital and has to date invested in approximately 50 companies in Israel and abroad.

    Itzhak Bambagi, Chief Executive Officer of Kramer commented, “I would like to thank Dr. Kramer for the many years he has dedicated to the success of our company. Dr. Kramer was one of the founding fathers of the AV industry and contributed greatly to the company’s position as a world leader in its field.

    Fortissimo’s investment in our company is a major milestone and I am confident that under their guidance we can grow and become an even more significant player in the market.”

    “This year, we are celebrating 40 years since the founding of Kramer Electronics. The initial pillars upon which the company was built, with a focus on constant innovation, the pursuit of excellence and team spirit remain the driving force of our business today. These values ​​and our strategic direction will continue to drive the company’s future success.

    Yuval Cohen, Managing Partner of Fortissimo Capital and Chairman of the Board of Kramer added: “Kramer’s continued innovation and innovative solutions including cutting-edge cloud technologies, pioneering methods of delivering AV over IP and wireless presentation and collaboration advances have solidified its position as a leader in the industry. Digital multimedia and AV technologies are thriving, and we see Kramer Electronics as a great global platform with over 25 offices worldwide to further grow and enhance its operations. We are thrilled to participate in the next phase of Kramer’s journey.”

  • Itzhak Bambagi joins Kramer as new CEO

    The former IBM Director will further drive Kramer’s software and cloud-based initiatives

    Jerusalem, Israel — Kramer Electronics is pleased to announce the appointment of Itzhak Bambagi as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

    The appointment reinforces Kramer’s position as a leader in pro AV innovation as the company aims to further drive its software and cloud-based initiatives to both support and adopt new business models, better suited to address the needs of the evolving AV industry.

    Bambagi has a proven track record of exemplary leadership serving in key executive roles at IBM and Digital/Compaq over the past 18 years. Among the various projects and technologies on which he worked, he also led IBM’s IT transformational experience using cloud technologies and various digital workplace initiatives across EMEA.

    The appointment heralds an exciting time for both Bambagi and Kramer. “I am both proud and honoured to be joining Kramer as their CEO,” declared Bambagi. “For the past 4 decades, Kramer has led the way with advanced AV solutions and the Kramer brand is known and respected worldwide. I have been a long-term admirer of Dr. Joseph Kramer’s dedication, work and vision and look forward to working with the global Kramer teams to further enhance the company’s evolution and making Kramer even greater.”

    With a strong history in software and cloud developments, Bambagi will be instrumental in driving Kramer’s ethos of advanced pro AV solutions utilizing tighter integration, software, and cloud driven functionality. He explains: “Bringing software and cloud components further into the pro AV arena is the next step. By allowing remote support and management, we can bring standard uniformity to multisite installations, wherever they are in the world. Hassle-free solutions and an outstanding user experience are key and my IBM experience will assist in delivering technology that ‘behaves’ in ways that are wholly familiar to – and expected by – IT departments.”

    “The way customers consume IT and AV in an IoT enabled world will have a tremendous impact on our industry. Converging technologies bring a multitude of challenges and opportunities with software-driven solutions, cloud power, and scalability as well as opportunities for new business models, such as AV as a Service (AVaaS). We aim to reinforce Kramer as the ‘go-to’ brand for pro AV remote management and cloud advancements. We will, of course, continue to develop our pro AV innovation and support, educate, and collaborate with our loyal customer base which has made Kramer so great for the last 4 decades.”

    On announcing the news, Dr. Joseph Kramer, Founder, President and Chairman of Kramer, said: “We are incredibly excited to share this fantastic appointment. Itzhak’s decades of experience in sales, service and operational management paired with his deep understanding of advanced networking and cloud technology will be invaluable assets as Kramer meets the continuing challenges of the converging pro AV and IT industries.”

  • Previewing Kramer Electronics Stand at ISE 2019

    In preparation for ISE, we talk with David Margolin from Kramer about the new products to expect at their stand in Hall 1 from AV over IP products to new wireless devices. We also discuss the launch of their new online training platform, Kramer Academy.