News Briefs

February 7, 2018 | Ben-Gurion University and Israeli-founded multinational Amdocs have launched a joint research lab for cooperation on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The university’s Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering will work together with Amdocs “to further research on these critical issues,” Ben-Gurion University said in a statement. “We are excited about the launch of a new Amdocs-BGU research lab. The joint lab team will join forces to push the frontiers in these fields,” said Yaron Sverdlov, CIO of Amdocs, and Oleg Brodt, Head of Research and Development at BGU’s Cyber Security Research Center.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: Sign up here for free

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 7, 2018 | German pharmaceutical giant Merck has launched an innovation lab through its subsidiary Qlight Nanotech at the Edward J. Safra campus of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the company announced on Monday. The lab “emphasizes Merck’s commitment to Israel and the collaboration with the Hebrew University, with the aim to expand its developmental efforts in nanotechnologies and materials,” a statement said. Qlight Nanotech was established through Yissum, the technology transfer company of Hebrew University and is supported by the Israel Innovation Authority. It partners Hebrew U’s Professor Uri Banin and Merck. Qlight was recognized in 2014 as “Nanotechnology Company of the Year,” by the Chief Scientist of Israel and was fully acquired by Merck in mid-2015. It focuses on the research and development of cadmium-free quantum materials for use in display applications and supports Merck’s development in liquid crystal display materials and OLED materials.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 6, 2018 | Israel’s MDClone, a Beersheba-based company providing healthcare data in real-time, announced on Monday it has raised $15 million in total funding from Tel Aviv-based seed stage venture capital firm OrbiMed Israel Partners and American VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. OrbiMed led the company’s initial seed investment round in 2016, while Lightspeed led funding in 2017. This news comes not long after MDClone’s recent announcement that has signed its first overseas agreement, a partnership with the Washington University School of Medicine to make healthcare data in St. Louis more accessible to researchers and healthcare professionals. Founded in 2016 by Israelis Boaz Gur-Lavie, Luz Erez, and Ziv Ofek, MDClone has developed a big-data solution for healthcare featuring cutting-edge technology for data representation and generation and a new approach to healthcare data access, privacy, analytics, and research.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 6, 2018 | Siemens AG, the German-based multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate dealing with energy, transportation, and healthcare, has launched an innovation lab in Israel at SOSA co-working space in Tel Aviv under the name Siemens Dynamo, the company announced in a press release. “The new lab is no longer a hi-tech incubator, but a structured program designed to take innovation and accompany startups at various stages of development under one room, until the commercialization stage,” said Siemens Israel CEO Shmuel Feldel. Israeli startups in the program will be exposed to Siemens technologies. They will also have the chance to experiment in the production lines of large Israeli companies including Keter Plastic and Strauss. The lab will provide technical support, ongoing collaboration with Siemens experts in Israel and abroad, exposure to industrial solutions and challenges in the field, experience in existing manufacturing plants of well-known companies and more. Siemens is also connected with Israeli and international entrepreneurs, investors and more.  The addition of these startups in the Siemens innovation lab could lead to their future acquisition by Siemens if their technologies match Siemens products and solutions. Israeli startups that are currently active in the lab include CoreTigo, a developer of wireless communication systems for control of industrial sensors, QualityLine, a technology for quality control of the production process, and Halo Digital, a digital platform for smart industry. Siemens has already invested about $992 million in 180 startups around the world. It operates Siemens Israel as a subsidiary of Siemens AG.

 

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 5, 2018 | A delegation from American retail giant Walmart is reportedly headed to Israel in the coming weeks for talks on the possibility of opening a local branch, business daily CTech by Calcalist reported on Monday, citing an interview with Israel’s National Economic Council Chairman Avi Simhon. Walmart will also look into possible investments in Israeli cyber technologies, Simhon told CTech. Simhon said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior Walmart executive John Furner on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month and conveyed the message that the government would be open to having a local Walmart presence. “We made it clear we are ready to ease regulatory burdens wherever possible to make the market more accessible to them,” Simhon was quoted as saying in a Bloomberg report on Sunday, “the door to Netanyahu’s office is open.” He told CTech, “Increasing the competitiveness of Israel’s retail market will only benefit the economy and the Israeli consumer.”

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 4, 2018 | Israel-based flavor and fine ingredients company Frutarom today announced it has purchased 100 percent of shares in Israeli Biotech Research (IBR) for $21 million. The deal was financed through bank debt. This marks the first acquisition of the year for Frutarom, one of the world’s 10 largest companies in the field of flavors and natural specialty fine ingredients. Through the acquisition, Frutarom continues its efforts to actively pursue activities in algae-growth and active ingredients extraction for personal care and skin protection. Its goal is to establish its position as a leading global supplier of unique natural products and “develop a worldwide business in the growing and profitable fields of natural cosmetics,” Frutarom CEO Oi Yehudai said in a statement. Frutarom bought 12 companies in 2017 and has made 32 acquisitions since 2015. Founded in 1995, Israeli Biotech Research develops, manufactures and markets active ingredients for cosmetics and dietary supplement industries, with sales of $7.4 million in 2017.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 4, 2018 | Israeli software and services provider Amdocs announced last week it has entered into a “definitive agreement” to acquire US content monetization technology solutions firm Vubiquity for $224 million. The deal, which is still subject to “customary closing conditions,” will help “further expand our capabilities in the world of media and entertainment, which is increasingly converging,”Amdocs president and CEO Eli Gelman told Multichannel News last week. The acquisition will improve the Amdocs customer experience and entertainment offerings, thanks to Vubiquity’s content ecosystem expertise. “This acquisition uniquely positions Amdocs at the center of increased convergence across the content community and video distributors including major OTT providers,” Gelman said in a statement.  “Our joint offerings address the media and entertainment industry’s challenge in balancing the incredible growth of content and the many ways to consume content with making programming easier, faster to deliver and ultimately watch, while also delivering profits.”

 

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 1, 2018 | OurCrowd, a global equity crowdfunding platform, announced the launch of a $50 million fund focused on sports technology. The fund, OurCrowd’s 13th, is called ADvantage and is co-founded with leAD Sports, a global sports tech accelerator backed by the Adi Dassler Family Office (ADIFO). The fund will initially focus on 15 early-stage sports tech ventures, “including companies providing next-gen fan engagement and experience; solutions for connected athletes and communities; and startups in the derivative sports space, including eSports, new and fantasy sports,” OurCrowd said in a statement.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 1, 2018 | Israel and Nigeria have agreed to widen an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on their cooperation in agriculture technology and research. The new terms were finalized this week between Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Guy Feldman, and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh. The agreement includes a plan to apply for aid from development partners, strengthen research institutes on agriculture in the country, and train youth. Feldman presented the Nigerian minister with a signed invitation to Feldman presents an official letter of invitation to the annual Agritech conference in Israel focused on agricultural technologies and innovations, taking place in May.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

February 1, 2018 | Israel and China announced late last month the launch of a new incubator for technology cooperation in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen. The incubator will be located in Xiamen’s Software Park and will provide services to Chinese companies interested in applying Israeli tech, according to a report in Chinese news agency Xinhua. Israel’s Consul-General in Guangzhou, Nadav Cohen, was quoted as saying, “With a huge market, strong capital and production capabilities, China will become a perfect partner for tech-savvy Israel.”

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

January 31, 2018 | IBM, the American multinational technology company, announced on Wednesday it will expand its Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) with a new laboratory to be launched in Beersheba. The cyber research center has already operated for four years on the campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, but the company has moved to a new location in Gav Yam Negev High Tech Park to launch a new and expanded center, through a collaboration between the company’s global security division and its research division. The new lab was inaugurated by Marc van Zadelhoff, General Manager of IBM’s Global Security Division, in a ceremony attended by the Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovich, IBM Israel CEO Daniel Malka, President of Ben-Gurion University Prof. Rivka Carmi and Head of the Excellence Center Dr. Yaron Wolfstal. While much of IBM’s research activity in Israel takes place at the Haifa research lab, IBM’s largest research center outside the US, CCOE will be the southern extension of the research center. The center conducts research that focuses on aspects of information security in cooperation with Ben-Gurion University as well as IBM clients and other organizations in the Israeli cyber industry. It also focuses on fields such as insider threats, the security of networks of connected vehicles, software research, and development to secure databases, and new technologies for the identification of malware and unusual behavior patterns on devices such as laptops and smartphones. “IBM is a key partner in advancing Beersheba as the national cyber capital,” said Danilovich at the inauguration ceremony of the lab. “Expanding the lab’s activities and the move to the high-tech park in Gav-Yam Negev is a significant development for the south.”

 

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

January 31, 2018 | OurCrowd, a global leader in equity crowdfunding, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $650 million for 145 startups and 12 funds since the company was founded in February 2013. In 2017, the company’s investor base grew to over 25,000 registered investors from 112 countries. The Jerusalem-based venture capital platform opened new offices in London, Hong Kong, and Madrid, bringing its total to 10 offices worldwide. The company predicts it will surpass over $1 billion in assets under management, raised through equity crowdfunding from investors. Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, said in a press release: “Five years ago, getting to $1B in equity crowdfunded assets was but a dream. Now we are focused on how to reinvent ourselves yet again, to innovate new ways that we can democratize and expand access to investments in startups and venture funds.” The company’s primary investor base is still predominantly in the United States. OurCrowd also announced that its Labs/02 seed stage incubator plans to invest in up to 100 early-stage companies over the next 10 years. It will make initial investments in Keepers, a mobile app that provides tools to help parents cope with social media addiction and cyberbullying, and C2A Security, a chip level security and safety platform the next generation of automobiles. The Labs/02 incubator focuses on breakthrough technologies like AI, deep learning, autonomous transportation, and smart cities. The incubator is a partnership among OurCrowd, Motorola Solutions, Reliance Industries, and Yissum, the Technology Transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It will be part of the Israeli incubator program administered by the Israeli Innovation Authority. OurCrowd is set to make these announcements and more at the 2018 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit on February 1 in Jerusalem, the “largest equity crowdfunding event in the world, and the largest investor event in the entire Middle East,” according to the company. OurCrowd is expected to welcome 10,000 attendees from over 90 countries.

 

 

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

January 30, 2018 | Israeli cybersecurity firms raised a record $814.5 million in 81 deals in 2017 both in venture capital funds and private equity, according to a new report on Israel’s cyber sector by Start-Up Nation Central. The sum marked a 28 percent increase from 2016 and makes up 16 percent of the overall cyber investments made worldwide last year. Three large funding rounds — $150 million for Skybox Security, $100 million for Cybereason, $70 million for SentinelOne — account for 40 percent of the total amount raised for 2017. The report, published Tuesday to coincide with the annual cyber conference Cybertech Tel Aviv, recorded 420 active cybersecurity companies in Israel in 2017, up from 379 in 2016. Seventy startups were founded over the course of the year, 20 of them in the IoT sub-sector, according to the report. In addition, 14 Israeli cyber companies made “exits” in 2017, including buy-outs, IPOs and acquisitions. The valuation of the deals for 12 of them totaled $1.4 billion, according to the report, while the remaining two were closed for undisclosed amounts. Notable exits for 2017 included the acquisition of Argus Cyber Security by Germany’s Continental for over $400 million and the acquisitions of Skycure and Fireglass by Symantec for $280 million and $250 million, respectively.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

January 30, 2018 | Israel’s MDClone, a Beersheba-based company providing healthcare data in real-time, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with The Washington University School of Medicine to make data from the BJC HealthCare system of St. Louis, Missouri more accessible to researchers and healthcare professionals, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The agreement is MDClone’s first partnership outside of Israel. The deal is aimed at finding new ways for Washington University’s Institute for Informatics to share and use the clinical data. MDClone founder Ziv Ofek was in St. Louis last summer, along with other Israeli healthcare startups to participate in the first GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit and employees from BJC HealthCare and the Institute for Informatics were part of GlobalSTL’s visit to Israel this month. GlobalSTL is an initiative that attracts high-growth international startups to St. Louis. “We explored partnerships with leading institutions across the US and have been impressed with the visionary leadership and top talent in healthcare delivery and research at Washington University in St. Louis,” Ofek said in a statement.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

January 30, 2018 | Israeli telehealth startup TytoCare, a company with breakthrough technology for conducting remote medical examinations and telehealth services, announced on Monday that it has raised $25 million in its most recent funding round. The round was led by Ping An Global Voyager Fund and including both new and existing investors. Other investors include Cambia Health Solutions, Walgreens, Orbimed, Fosun Pharma and LionBird. The growth round also includes new participants like Israel’s first exclusive digital health fund Qure, established with Johns Hopkins University. TytoCare has the option the extend the round to $28 million in the next few months. The company will use the additional funding to continue furthering its expansion in the US market. After its clearance with the FDA in late 2016 and the launch of its products in early 2017, TytoCare has made a name for itself among major US health systems. They will use the funding to enhance their products and meet the demand for their products outside the US. TytoCare and the Ping An group will form a strategic partnership to implement Tyto Care into the Chinese market. Founded in 2012, Tyto Care specializes in telehealth, creating products with breakthrough technology that provide remote home examination and diagnosis solutions. Their offerings include TytoHome for patients, TytoPro for professionals, and TytoClinic for remote point-of-care testing. They also have a complete telehealth platform, analytics, built-in guidance technology, and machine learning algorithms. At the recent Digital Health IL event, TytoCare COO Ofer Tzadik showed the audience how, using an electronic Tyto stethoscope, for example, a patient may record his/her heart rate, send it to a health organization through a secure Amazon cloud service, and receive feedback from a physician.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]