April 21, 2016 | Inno-Negev, Ben-Gurion University’s technology accelerator, has successfully concluded its first cycle. Eleven new start-ups were unveiled at the concluding event held at WeWork in the Advanced Technologies Park in Beer-Sheva late last week. The accelerator has demonstrated its importance in promoting cutting-edge innovation and the strength of Beer-Sheva’s entrepreneurial community. Demo Day showcased the fruits of Inno-Negev’s first cycle – 11 new startups in the fields of communication and information. These 11 initiatives were chosen from 130 teams, which included more than 300 entrepreneurs, most from Beer-Sheva and its environs. The entrepreneurs accepted included BGU students and alumni, alumni of elite IDF technology units and others.
News Briefs
Ben-Gurion University’s Inno-Negev Produces 11 New Start-ups In First Cycle
Hebrew University Hosts Singapore’s Prime Minister, Signs Agreements
April 21, 2016 |The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, arrived in Israel this week on the first prime ministerial visit since Singapore’s independence 51 years ago and diplomatic relations were established in 1969. The Prime Minister’s first official stop was the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he witnessed the signing of three agreements with the Hebrew University, and where the university conferred upon him an honorary doctorate. The agreements that were signed call for the Hebrew University and the Government of the Republic of Singapore, represented by the National Research Foundation, to continue existing collaborations on joint research and development and educational activities of mutual interest, together with Singapore’s universities and research institutions; and for the Hebrew University, together with National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), to pursue and promote collaboration on joint research and development and educational activities of mutual interest.
Motorola Solutions Sets Up Israel Innovation Center
April 21, 2016 | Motorola Solutions has announced it is establishing a new Innovation Center in Israel. The new center will seek out startup investments in cyber security, mobile technologies, Internet-of-Things, big data analytics and more. Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown made the announcement during a meeting in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd. is based in Airport City near Tel Aviv. The firm develops, manufactures and markets communications infrastructure, devices and solutions for public, private and other environments. Motorola has had a marketing presence in the country since 1948 and was one of the first multinational companies to set up an R&D center in Israel way back in 1964.
With Layoffs Looming, Intel Says it’s Committed to Israel
April 20, 2016 | Major layoffs are expected at Intel Israel, after the global chip giant Intel Corp. announced that it is cutting 12,000 jobs worldwide, 11% of its workforce. The downsizing comes on the back of a downturn in PC chip sales due to increased use of clouds and smartphones for computer purposes. Intel is Israel’s largest high-tech employer with a staff of 10,000. The company exported $4.1 billion of goods in 2015, 11% of Israel’s high-tech exports, slightly down from $4.25 billion in 2014. Intel in Israel released an official statement saying, “This is a global announcement and we’re studying its implications on the operation in Israel. One thing is certain: Intel will meet the obligations it gave to the Israeli Government.”
Contract Review Startup LawGeex Raises $2.5M
April 20, 2016 | Israeli online contract review platform LawGeex announced today $2.5 million in funding from Lool Ventures and LionBird and angel investors Eilon Tirosh and Rami Lipman. The startup has also launched its online contract review solution free of charge for consumers. Using machine learning, the Israeli startup sets out to “out-lawyer” the lawyers. LawGeex allows consumers to upload any type of contract to its platform and receive, within 24 hours, an in-depth report of what’s good, bad and even missing from their contract. Currently reviewing over 20 types of contracts, the free solution begins with employment agreements, with more contract types to be offered for free in the near future.
Cyber Security Company TrapX Raises $14M
April 20, 2016 | Israeli cyber security startup TrapX has closed a $14 million Series B financing round. The company raised $9 million of this amount last year led by investors Intel Capital and Liberty Israel Venture Fund together with investors BRM Group and Opus Capital. It has now expanded this round with an additional $5 million investment from Strategic Cyber Ventures. The company was founded by VP services and research Moshe Ben-Simon and CTO Yuval Malachi. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company’s development center is in Tel Aviv.
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Takipi Raises $15M
April 20, 2016 | Israeli real-time application repair company Takipi has closed its $15 million Series B round of financing to scale its efforts in the enterprise IT operations market. The round was led by Lightspeed Ventures with participation from existing Series A investors Menlo Ventures, and will accelerate the company’s investments in sales, marketing and R&D. To date, the company has raised $22 million. Takipi was founded by Tal Weiss and Iris Shoor, who previously founded VisualTao, a startup that was acquired by Autodesk for $20-$30 million in 2009. The company has moved its headquarters to San Francisco and maintains its development center in Tel Aviv.
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Israeli Startup Apester Raises $17M
April 20, 2016 | Apester, an Israeli digital storytelling platform for publishers, has raised $17 million in a financing round led by Blumberg Capital. The financing round includes $5 million raised last year from Mangrove Capital Partners, former AOL CMO Tal Simantov, Wix co-founder Gigi Kaplan, Silverstein Properties President Tal Kerret, and Amdocs founder Morris Kahn (Wellborn Ventures). Founded in 2014 in Israel by CEO Moti Cohen, Apester is now headquartered in New York City but has kept its research and development center in Tel Aviv. Publishers using Apester’s platform in over 40 countries include Time Inc, AOL, The Daily Telegraph, The Huffington Post, FOX, USA Today, BBC, Sky and Bild. The company’s workforce has grown from 8 last year to 50 and will more than double over the coming year.
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Israel’s SintecMedia Bought For $400M
April 19, 2016| Israeli company SintecMedia has been acquired by US private equity fund Francisco Partners for $400 million. 84% of Jerusalem based SintecMedia, which has developed Internet-based management applications and software systems for broadcasters, is owned by Riverwood, another US private equity firm which bought out many of the previous investors including Sequoia Capital, Waldman, Kardan Communications and the Fishman Group. SintecMedia was founded in 2000. In 2014 it acquired its rival Pilat Media Global Ltd., which had been traded on London’s AIM, for $103 million. This is Francisco Partners third Israeli acquisition in Israel. Last year, the US private equity firm acquired Clicksoftware for $438 million and previously it bought homeland security company NSO for over $100 million.
Trendlines and Bayer Establish $10M Agtech Innovation Fund
April 19, 2016| The Trendlines Group, an Israeli innovation commercialization company, and the CropScience division of Bayer AG announced Monday that they had signed an agreement to form a $10-million venture capital fund to invest in early-stage agrotechnology startups and other companies of interest to the German pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals giant. The capital for the Bayer Trendlines Agtech Innovation Fund will come from Bayer and be allocated over the next five years; Trendlines will manage the portfolio. The partnership couples Bayer’s decades of experience in agricultural science, innovation and regulatory affairs with Trendlines’ specialization in investing in cutting-edge, early-stage medical and agricultural technologies. Based in the Israeli town of Migav and traded on the Singapore Exchange, Trendlines invests in medical and agricultural technologies.
Birthright Israel To Open Tel Aviv Innovation Center
April 19, 2016| Taglit-Birthright Israel is set to open the “State of Mind” center for entrepreneurship and innovation in Tel Aviv with the cooperation of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The center, which will open in June 2016, will highlight Israeli achievements in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology in a variety of sectors including agriculture, medicine, defense, cyber security, science, transportation, and aerospace. Each future Birthright Israel group will meet with various Israeli entrepreneurs, who will share their personal stories with the participants. The center will be multilingual, with content presented in French, English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. Some 28,000 tourists will arrive in Israel this summer as part of Birthright Israel, the program that offers a free ten-day educational trip for the participants, young Jews from across the world. Founded in 1999, Birthright Israel, now in its 16th year, is actively working to influence the attitudes of young Diaspora Jews towards the State of Israel by helping foster a personal connection by building relationships with the country and its people.
Tel Aviv Hotels “Get Smart” Thanks To Local Apps
April 19, 2016| Combining its specialties in the field of tourism and technology, Tel Aviv is taking a new step towards becoming a ‘smart tourism city’ by leading an integration of travel apps made in Tel Aviv into 12% of the city’s hotels. The apps will allow tourists to enjoy improved communication with the hotels before and during their stay, access to local activities and events, advanced tourist profiling for hotel marketers, and more. Tel Aviv, which was awarded Smartest City in the World in 2014 and was ranked the #1 startup ecosystem outside of the United States in 2015, was also recently ranked as one of the top tourist destinations by Lonely Planet. Some of the participating technologies include Howazit, which provides a seamless connection between guests and hotels throughout the different phases of the visit; Dotz, which offers the ideal events guide for visitors based on their geo location and personal interests; and Aspectiva, which offers customer review insights. The participating hotels in the project are: Royal Beach, Isrotel Tower, the Dan Group hotels, Deborah, Golden Beach, Arkadia Tower, Carlton, Mergoza, West, Alexander, Embassy, Cucu and Port.
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Mobite Media Buys Vinko for $1.7M
April 17, 2016 | Israeli startup Mobite Media has acquired another Israel startup, Vinko, for $1.7 million according to an announcement made by the companies. Both companies specialize in mobile advertising. Vinko has seven employees who will now join Mobite. The acquiring company, Mobite, is jointly owned by the Webpick group and by Alon Rosenthal, Mobite’s Founder and CEO, was founded in 2014, and currently has 30 employees.
Israeli Startup NorthBit Bought By AR Leader Magic Leap
April 14, 2016 | Israeli software solutions provider NorthBit has been acquired by Florida-based Magic Leap, one of the companies considered to be at the forefront of augmented reality. The sale price has not yet been made public. NorthBit was co-founded in 2012 by CEO Gil Dabah and CTO Ariel Shiftan and has 15 employees. Last month Northbit announced that they had successfully hacked Android’s OS using the Stagefright exploit, highlighting the risk of remote hacks on over 95% of devices running the software. This is Magic Leap’s first investment in an Israeli strartup.
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Israeli GSM Startup Meucci Raises $6M from Singulariteam, Chinese Investors
April 14, 2016 | Israeli startup Meucci, an app that provides free GSM group calling, is announcing its public launch and that it has raised $6 million in seed round funding. The app allows users to make free group GSM and VoIP to GSM calls. Participants in the round include Moshe Hogeg’s Singulariteam (backed by Tencent and Renren), Dragon Ventures (China), Xu Li (China), and serial entrepreneur Alon Carmel (Co-Founder of JDate and Christian Mingle). Meucci aims to bring the same simple experience that users know from group chat apps, like WhatsApp, to the process of group calling. Relying on GSM, users can enjoy the app while on the go without having to find a Wi-Fi hotspot. The company will put the $6 million it has acquired in funding towards developing other new features and reaching emerging markets that struggle with few communication options. Founded in 2011 by CEO Rubi Kizner, COO Yubal Cnaan, CTO Arnon Ayal, and investor Alon Carmel, the Meucci team started work on their product in 2014.
