Israel's N-trig eyes Nasdaq IPO in late 2010

* Could go public by late 2010 if economy improves

* If economy remains weak would raise funds privately

* Collaborating with Microsoft on multi-touch functions

By Tova Cohen

KFAR SABA, Israel, April 6 (Reuters) - N-trig, an Israeli start-up that makes a pen and touch device for notebook computers, would seek to go public on Nasdaq in late 2010 if the economy improves, its chief executive said on Monday.

The company, which has raised $75 million to date, including $24 million in December from venture capital funds and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), is well set financially for the coming year.

"If the economy improves and our plans are fulfilled ... the latter part of 2010 is a reasonable time for our company to go public," Amihai Ben-David told Reuters.

If the economy remains weak, than N-trig might raise another round of private funding, but not before mid-2010, he added.

Ben-David said his goal would be to take the company public rather than sell it to another firm.

"I think that we're building a company for the public market," he said. "We're not a technology-centric company, we're a full blown corporation. As such we're very suitable to go public and stand on our feet."

N-trig produces a panel that is placed over an LCD screen on a notebook, providing the ability to operate a computer through touch, in the style of the iPhone. It is accompanied by a stylus that enables the user to also write on the screen.

N-trig, which has over 110 workers and offices in Israel, Texas and Taipei, started selling its product in late 2007.

"The first quarter of 2009 was our biggest quarter ever and hopefully that will be our reality over the next few quarters as well," Ben-David said.

N-trig's main competitor is Wacom (6727.T) of Japan, which is now adding touch to its pen tablets portfolio.

N-trig's touch technology is deployed in Dell's Latitude XT and XT2 notebooks as well as HP's TouchSmart. Both are tablet notebooks, with swivel screens that become a slate.