Oracle opens start-up accelerator in Israel for cloud innovation

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. software provider Oracle Corp said on Monday it was opening an accelerator program in Israel for startups developing cloud technologies or whose technologies are based in the cloud.

Run by Oracle's research and development team, the program provides six months of mentoring from technical and business experts, advanced technology, access to Oracle's customers, and partners and investors.

A pilot program was first launched in India and more centers will be announced soon. Oracle said this was a multi-million dollar program but did not disclose how much it would invest in each center.

Oracle's startup cloud accelerator program builds on its excellence center for Israeli startups, which was established in 2003 by Oracle Israel in cooperation with the government to support the growth of early stage startups. Thirty six companies were approved to take part in the excellence center, totaling more than $150 million in estimated exits.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen)