July 6, 2017 | Israeli medical device company, Theranica Bio-electronics, has completed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding will support the regulatory process and mass manufacturing of their wireless and electronic technologies to treat migraines. CEO Alon Ironi founded the company in 2016 with hopes of combining neuromodulation therapy with modern wireless technology.
News Briefs
July 06, 2017
Theranica Bio-Electronics Completes $6 Million Series A Funding Round
July 06, 2017
Cancer Diagnostic Company MobileODT Raises $6.85M
July 6, 2017 | The Israeli cancer diagnostic company MobileODT recently completed a $6.85 million funding round led by the OrbiMed Advisors LLC venture capital fund. This brings their total funding up to $13 million since their inception in 2012. Founded by Ariel Beery and David Levitz, MobileODT uses mobile phones to detect cancer; their first product is an FDA cleared internet-connected mobile colposcope that detects cervical cancer. The product has already screened more than 16 000 women in over 25 countries.
July 06, 2017
Vehicle Inspection System ‘UVeye’ Raises $4.5M
July 6, 2017 | UVeye, an Israeli vehicle inspection system startup, raised $4.5 million in the seed round. Ahaka Capital led the round with SeedIL, an angel network, participating. Founded in 2014 by CEO Amir Hever, the company builds automatic vehicle inspection systems using computer vision and machine learning. The technology is useful for the security and automotive industries. The seed money will be used to launch the capability to detect threats overlooked in human eye inspections.
July 05, 2017
The Hebrew University ranked 11th best in the world for Mathematics
July 4, 2017 | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the 11th best university in the world for Mathematics, according to the new “Global Ranking of Academic Subjects” for 2017, released by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The ranking surveyed more than 4000 universities across 52 subjects, worldwide. In total, the Hebrew University was ranked in the top 100 worldwide in 10 different subjects; took first place in Israel in 18 subjects (sometimes tied with another institution); and was listed in 32 of the 52 subjects surveyed. The university was founded in 1918 by intellectual leaders including Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud.
July 04, 2017
Unbotify Wins CYBERSTORM Competition
July 4, 2017 | Israeli startup Unbotify has just won first place in the CYBERSTORM Startup Competition hosted by YL Ventures as part of Cyber Week 2017. Founded in 2015 by Yaron Oliker and Alon Dayan, Unbotify uses behavioral biometrics and machine learning to accurately identify fraudulent bots. As their prize, they received flight tickets and entrance passes to the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas, which is fully sponsored by YL Ventures. Previously, Unbotify raised $1.5 million in seed funding.
July 04, 2017
Israeli Startup Spotinst Raises $15M
July 4, 2017 | Spotinst, an Israeli cloud cost management startup founded in 2015, has raised $15 million from Intel Capital and Vertex Venture Capital in a Series A financing round. Previously, the company raised $2 million from PICO Ventures. The company, founded by CEO Amirm Shachar, chief architect Lirn Polak, and CTO Aharon Twizer, is looking to expand its services and locations. Spotinst saves customers’ computing costs by providing an optimal management platform for optimization.
July 04, 2017
OlfaGuard Wins TechCrunch Competition
July 4, 2017 | Israeli startup OlfaGuard is the winner of last week’s Tel Aviv TechCrunch Pitch-Off competition, and is headed to either San Francisco or Berlin where they will get a table at TechCrunch Disrupt. OlfaGuard has created an “electronic nose” that can accurately sniff out pathogens such as E.coli or Salmonella in food production settings. The company was founded in 2016 by CEO Pierre Salameh and has raised $400,000 pre-seed.
July 02, 2017
Car Tech Startup Autotalks Raises $40 Million
July 2, 2017 | Autotalks, the leader in Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication chipsets, completed a $40 million Series D round of financing. CEO, Hagai Zyss, hopes this financing will allow Autotalks to prepare and expand its operations for mass production, as well as develop communication solutions for connected and autonomous cars. The company was founded in 2008 and has raised more than $45 million.
July 02, 2017
Israeli Startup Cyber Observer Raises $3 Million
July 2, 2017 | Israeli cyber-security orchestration and awareness startup Cyber Observer has raised $3 million in a funding round led by UK company Talis Capital, and included existing investors such as Swarth Group. Cyber Observer was founded in 2011 by Shimon Becker, Moti Ram, and Oded Mass. The funding will help the company meet growing international demand and expand R&D to increase product development.
June 29, 2017
BIRD To Invest $7M In Israel-US Projects
June 29, 2017 | Eight US and Israeli companies will receive $7 million from Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD), a 40-year-old Israel-US foundation that has to date invested approximately $340 million in technological projects. The Board of Governors approved the funding on June 14, thus enabling joint technological product development on projects ranging from cancer screening systems to laser technologies. With additional private sector funding, the value of the projects is roughly $18.5 million. The eight chosen projects are: Atvio and Secant Group, C4 Systems and Churchill Navigation, Check-Cap and GE Healthcare, Isorad and Synrad, Melodea and ICL Performance Products, Nutrino Health and Welltok, OpSys Technologies and sdPhotonics, and Pill Tracker and Target Health.
June 29, 2017
OurCrowd Forms India-Israel Venture
June 29, 2017 | Israeli equity crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd, has formed a strategic partnership with LetsVenture, India’s largest marketplace for startup funding. This partnership will allow OurCrowd to offer deals to Indian investors managed by LetsVenture, as well as providing a platform for Indian startups to gain access to global investors and to business development opportunities. The companies will also collaborate on an “India Fund,” in which they will invest in Israeli, Indian and global startups. OurCrowd was founded in 2013 by CEO, Jon Medved, and has invested $450 million in 120 startups.
June 27, 2017
Cybersecurity Startup Octopus Raises $5.25M
June 27, 2017 | Awz HLS Fund, a Canadian venture capital firm focused on security and intelligence technologies, has invested $5.25 million in Israeli startup Octopus Systems. Founded in 2013 by Tal Bar Or and Baruch Tagori, Octopus has developed a cloud-based security platform that identifies, prevents, and neutralizes physical and cyber-attacks from within and outside an organization. The company integrates and analyzes data from an organization’s technology to provide real-time alerts and tools for immediate response. To date, Octopus has raised a total of $10.25 million.
June 27, 2017
Retail Tech Startup Trax Raises $64M
June 27, 2017 | Israeli retail tech startup Trax has raised $64 million in its fourth financing round. Warburg Pincus was the lead investor, providing $50 million. To date, the company has raised $167 million. Last week, Trax partnered with Nielsen International to market a product line together. Trax founders Yoel Bar-El and Dror Feldheim hope to use the money raised to acquire a competitor and fund the Nielsen partnership. Founded in 2010, Trax developed technology to create business intelligence and improve retail performance.
June 27, 2017
Israeli Startup Mitoconix Raises $20M
June 27, 2017 | Mitoconix Bio, a budding Israeli biopharmaceutical startup focused on therapies for neurological diseases, has secured $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Remiges Ventures. Founded in 2016 at the FutuRx biotechnology incubator, Mitoconix Bio has developed a unique method of slowing neuro-degenerative diseases using drugs which improve mitochondrial functioning. The company has an exclusive license for the technology behind its lead drug, which was developed by founder Daria Mochly-Rosen at Stanford University. The funding will be used to advance Mitoconix’s treatment of Huntington’s disease.
June 27, 2017
Personalized Diets Startup DayTwo Raises $12M
June 27, 2017 | Israeli personalized diets startup DayTwo has raised $12 million in a Series A round of financing led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. This investment brings the company’s total funding to $17 million. Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Lihi Segal, DayTwo uses individuals’ gut bacteria to create personalized nutrition. The new funds will help expand the company’s product, engineering, and data science teams in Tel Aviv and San Francisco while also supporting its research with the Mayo Clinic and other clinical partners.
