April 3, 2018 | Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, the venture capital firm specializing in seed investments and early-stage startups and an affiliate of electronics manufacturer Samsung Electronics, announced it had invested $4.6 million in Israeli AI audio search company Audioburst, Forbes reported last week. The South Korean giant said it made the investment through its VC firm last year. It will integrate Audioburst’s tech into many Samsung devices. Industry insiders told India’s Economic Times that “the decision apparently reflects Samsung Electronics’ bid to bolster its capabilities in the AI segment” while Forbes says it’s a “‘sound’ move from Samsung, who is seeing Amazon’s Echo devices, with Alexa inside, dominating the smart speaker market” and that it “could also help Samsung compete against the Google voice assistant.” Founded in 2015, Audioburst provides customized audio content to users through analyzing their preferences and listening patterns.
News Briefs
Samsung Ventures Invests $4.6M In Israeli Audio Search Startup
Israeli Startup Behind Voting For Time 100 List Poll
April 2, 2018 | Israeli startup Apester has partnered with media publisher Time Inc. for the second year in a row to poll readers about who they think should be in the TIME 100 list highlighting the most influential people in the world, Time Inc announced on its site.The Tel Aviv-based startup provides publishers with tools to create, embed, and share interactive content in posts and articles. Time polls its readers using a new Apester story format launched in February. This format is a gallery of slides with interactive buttons where people can click their choice. According to Times of Israel, Apester says its story format “is only available to news and commercial websites. Voting for Time’s poll began on March 28 and will end on April 17 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Time will announce who made their Time 100 list in five categories (pioneers, artists, leaders, titans, and icons) on April 19.
Israeli Startups Raise More Than $1B In The First Quarter Of 2018
April 2, 2018 | Israeli startups raised about $330 million during March 2018 and over $1 billion in the first quarter of 2018, according to Globes. The Israeli daily’s calculations were based on companies’ announcements of completed funding rounds over the course of January-March. Israeli startups also raised an estimated $260 million in January 2018 and $500 million in February 2018, bringing the first quarter’s total to just below $1.1 billion. The number is up from the $1.03 billion in the first quarter of 2017, according to an IVC-ZAG Israeli High-Tech Capital Raising Survey. March’s number came from the $100 million raised by social trading company eToro, which made up almost one third of the entire figure. Other funding rounds in March include $30 million raised by cybersecurity company BioCatch, $30 million raised by AI medical diagnostics firm Medial EarlySign, and $29 million raised by fintech company Capitolis. Also, medical monitoring firm Continuse Biometrics raised $20 million, and Luminate Security, an SaaS security platform raised $14 million. Some companies prefer not to publicize the investments they receive, therefore the figures for March 2018 and the first quarter of 2018 could actually be more than what is reported here.
Google Maps Now In 39 Languages, Including Hebrew
April 2, 2018 | Google web mapping service Google Maps announced last week that it was launching its platform in 39 additional languages, including Hebrew, Globes reported. The service had been supported in Hebrew within Israel, by displaying the names of locations within the country in Hebrew. Now the entire service is available in Hebrew, including major locations around the world. The languages added to Google Maps yesterday including Danish, Persian, and Turkish.
Global Auto Parts Maker Linamar, Israel’s SoftWheel Form Strategic Partnership
April 2, 2018 | Global manufacturing company Linamar, the second largest Canadian manufacturer of auto parts traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, announced it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Israeli startup SoftWheel, according to a statement. “The cooperation exemplifies the vision of smart urban transportation that SoftWheel’s technology represents,” the statement said. Linamar will set up a production line for SoftWheel products in North America. The production line will produce current and future product designs and increase SoftWheel production capacity to accelerate its entrance into the global market. Founded in 2011, the Tel Aviv-based SoftWheel has developed a unique suspension technology with the suspension mounted within the wheel itself. Their products have been adopted by a variety of transportation sectors including wheelchairs and bicycles. Linamar already has 59 factories and six product development centers in 15 countries around the world, manufacturing parts for the global automotive industry at large.
MassChallenge Selects 55 Startups for 2018 Israel Program
April 1, 2018 | MassChallenge, one of the largest startup accelerators in the world, has announced that 55 early-stage startups will join its 2018 program in Israel. The startups are from a number of different industries including medtech, visual technology, and future mobility. At least 18 of the companies participating in the program are based outside Israel, including six startups from India in the fields of cybersecurity, aerospace, IOT, healthcare, and agriculture, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said in a statement. Companies from Poland, Kenya, the UK, and the US are also taking part. More than 520 startups from 32 countries applied to join the 2018 class of MassChallenge Israel. Startups were evaluated on their ability to demonstrate impact and potential by a judging panel that included more than 170 of the world’s top executives, entrepreneurs, and investors, MassChallenge said. The accelerator will last four months and run from late April through early August 2018. It culminates with the MassChallenge Israel awards, where the top startups will be invited to the MassChallenge Israel trek, an all-expenses-paid roadshow to the US East Coast. Select startups will also share a portion of an equity-free cash prize of NIS 500,000 ($143,000.) MassChallenge launched a partnership with the Deshpande Foundation and Nasscom in January 2018 as part of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to India. The partnership would grant a $5,000 scholarship to up to 10 Indian teams accepted into the Jerusalem-based MassChallenge Israel accelerator.
Transit Tech Startup Contguard Nabs Investment From Citi, Canaan Ventures
April 1, 2018 | Contguard, an Israeli startup that provides global monitoring for goods in transit and business intelligence, announced that it raised an undisclosed sum from Palo Alto-headquartered Citi Ventures, the venture arm of Citi, and early-stage Canadian VC firm Canaan Ventures. Contguard said the new funds “will enable it to accelerate development of its technology to help the international trade industry gather insights into product shipments and to develop partnerships with banks and insurers,” Reuters reported.
Negev Startup Competition Offers NIS 500,000-Prize For Southern Innovation
March 29, 2018 | The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Tech7 innovation community, and the META Foundation for Development and Growth, have launched the second annual SilicoNegevBGU tech startup competition, offering an investment prize of up to NIS 500,000 ($142,000) for the top spot. The investment will be awarded by META. Startups from all over Israel with a focus on the Negev region were invited to register for the contest. SilicoNegevBGU tells NoCamels that at least 40 startups have entered the competition so far. The winner will be announced on May 23 during an entrepreneurship event at BGU. Registration for the competition closes on April 8. Last year’s contest was won by Consis Medical, a company developing an innovative disposable colonoscopy device to be used for colon screening and can significantly reduce the costs of gastro-therapy and treatments.
AI-Powered Transcription Solution Verbit Raises $11M
March 29, 2018 | Israeli startup Verbit, an online business transcription and video captioning service, has raised $11 million in a seed round, the company announced today in a statement. The round was led by Vertex Ventures, Orzyn Capital, and HV Ventures. The company, founded only a year ago by entrepreneurs Tom Livne, Eric Shellef, and Kobi Ben-Tzvi, currently the CEO, CTO, and VP of Engineering respectively, has developed a solution that integrates automatic speech recognition algorithms with human augmented refinement. Corrections made by human transcribers contributes to and improves the Verbit algorithm through machine learning technologies. The company works with thousands of freelancers in over 20 countries. With the round, Verbit plans to double its number of employees in Israel.
Israeli Researcher Develops First-Of-Its-Kind Heart Monitor Tech
March 29, 2018 | Israeli researcher Yael Zilberman-Simakov, working at the University of Waterloo in Canada, has developed a technology for heart patients that will allow them to monitor the risk of heart failure with a prick of the finger, in the same way that diabetics currently test their blood glucose levels, the Canadian Jewish News reports. The technology is a first of its kind. Patients need jab their finger, rub the blood on a special strip, and insert it into an electronic reader. The results are available within 20 minutes. A high number means elevated levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which indicates someone is at risk of heart failure. Zilberman-Simakov developed the low-cost techonlogy in 18 months. Clinical trials are expected to begin in Canada, then move on to the US, Europe, and Asia. Zilberman-Simakov hopes the kit will be available sometime next year, with a portable smartphone-sized reader available for under $100.
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Auto Parts Maker Denso Corp To Open Israel R&D Center
March 29, 2018 | Japanese-headquarted global automotive parts manufacturer Denso Corporation announced yesterday it will open a satellite R&D center in Israel and build an R&D team there, honing in on advanced technologies like automated driving, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI), according to a statement. Denso is considered the world’s biggest supplier for car components in the world. Denso’s R&D satellite will begin collaborations with local Israeli startups in April. Denso recently announced an initiative to broaden its R&D capabilities outside of Japan and already has another R&D center in Finland. Denso says it will tap into Israel’s technology strengths to develop more competitive technologies and collaborate with local companies and universities. Denso Corporation is a global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems, and components in areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics, and safety with more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 38 countries and regions around the world, including Japan. Customers include all the world’s major carmakers.
Whisteblower Says Israeli Intel Firm Hacked Nigerian President’s Emails
March 28, 2018 | Chris Wylie, the whistleblower of the Cambridge Analytica – Facebook data breach scandal told the British Parliament at a special parliamentary committee hearing Tuesday that private Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube hacked into private emails and medical records of Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari during that country’s 2015 election. Wylie said Cambridge Analytica and Canadian firm, Aggregate IQ, engaged Black Cube to harm Buhari’s campaign against his incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. Wylie also said UK’s Channel 4 has hidden camera footage of suspended Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix discussing the company’s involvement with Black Cube, but that they haven’t put the footage into public domain. Last week, it was reported that Cambridge Analytica used Israeli companies and former Israeli spies in some of its intelligence gathering, as revealed by CEO Nix in Channel 4’s secretly recorded conversation. Israeli hackers also reportedly offered Cambridge Analytica hacked emails of politicians in Nigeria and the Caribbean Island of St Kitts and Nevis who are now heads of state. Black Cube was previously connected to a number of controversial clients and hired by disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein to discredit and put an end to publication of stories that he sexually harassed and assaulted numerous women as well as intimidate some of his victims.
US Environmental Protection Agency Inks Deal With Israeli Water Tech Startup Water-Gen
March 28, 2018 | The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has signed a cooperative R&D agreement with Israeli company Water-Gen, a startup that developed technology captures humidity to make drinking water. EPA head Scott Pruitt says the goal of the agreement was to improve “access to potable water during shortages or contamination events,” liked hurricanes and earthquakes,” according to a Washington Examiner report. The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal was facilitated by casino magnate and top Republican backer Sheldon Adelson, also a strong supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Adelson is said to have facilitated meetings between Water-Gen executives and Pruitt’s team that led to the agreement. The environmental agency will test the company’s technology, as part of the deal, including “atmospheric water generator.” Last year, Water-Gen sent four water generators to Texas and Florida affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Canada, Israel Fund Will Invest In Eight Joint R&D Projects
March 28, 2018 | The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF), backed by the Israel Innovation Authority, will invest about $4.3 million in eight research and development projects by Israeli tech companies in cooperation with Canadian companies, the Israeli Innovation Authority announced in a statement Monday. The projects will be in the fields of agtech, robotics, satellite communications, food, and cleantech. The companies funded by CIIRDF include agtech robot startup FFR Robotics, satellite communications company Gilat Satellite Networks, cleantech and food company Altantium Technologies, information and communications technology (ICT) company Canopy Media, cleantech automation firm Afcon, an agtech companies C-Nature, Inovpro, and Flora-photonics. The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation was founded in 1994 to connect tech companies from both countries and finance joint R&D project, in addition to a bi-national fund. Total funds for the foundation so far stand at about $12 million. The Innovation Authority also invested $1.16 million in four joint projects — a cleantech, an agriculture, an aerospace, and an ICT project with Ontario Province in Canada last month. They also signed an agreement with Quebec which included a $2.7 million investment. In Canada, the Israel Innovation Authority operates a designated program for the consolidation of health solutions for the elderly in Canadian hospitals as well as a new program in the field of smart transportation.
NY Energy R&D Authority, Israel Innovation Agency To Collaborate On CleanTech
March 28, 2018 | The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Israel Innovation Authority have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on clean energy solutions. The cooperation will “accelerate the pace of innovation in the global (clean-energy) marketplace,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said in a statement cited by NYSERDA. The two authorities will support partnerships between New York and Israel focusing on emerging clean energy projects, according to the statement. NYSERDA president and CEO Alicia Barton said, “Clean energy innovation and economic development go hand-in-hand and this MOU will help us strengthen New York’s vibrant clean tech ecosystem.” Israeli Economy Minister Eli Cohen praised Israel’s worked-renown technological capabilities and breakthroughs, and said “Climate change and global warming are major threats to the entire planet. Countries around the globe are combining forces to collectively find solutions to ensure the safety of our planet for generations to come. I am confident that this collaboration will spearhead efforts of both countries in this domain.” Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority and Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy and Industry said he believes the MOU “will prove paramount in providing innovative alternatives for clean energy that will resonate in the global market.” Under the agreement, NYSERDA and the Israel Innovation Authority “will identify potential projects to partner on in support of new innovative technologies that could be commercialized in the global market,” and will “facilitate partnerships between New York and Israeli-based companies focused on clean-energy research and development projects.”
