April 6, 2016 | Genome Compiler Corporation, an Israeli-based company providing software for genetic engineers, molecular and synthetic biologists, has been acquired by Twist Bioscience Corporation, a San Francisco-based company accelerating science and innovation through rapid, high-quality DNA synthesis. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Twist Bioscience says it intends to leverage Genome Compiler’s technology and expertise to drive a digital products portfolio, including an eCommerce solution with gene design capabilities, expected to be available in the second half of 2016. Under the terms of the agreement, the Genome Compiler research and development center in Israel will become Twist Bioscience’s first international site. Twist Bioscience intends to expand the center in Tel Aviv to advance its digital product and gene design capabilities. Genome Compiler was founded in 2011 by Amirav-Drory with colleagues from Intel: Nir Ben Moshe, Yogev Debbi and Roy Nevo. The company has raised $6 million to date from LionBirdVC, Autodesk, and private angel investors. Twist Bioscience raised $61 million in January this year, making the total raised in two rounds $133 million.
News Briefs
Genome Compiler Acquired By Twist Bioscience
Business Intelligence Company Mintigo Raises $15M
April 6, 2016 | Mintigo, an Israeli company which offers business intelligence services, announced that Sequoia Capital is leading a funding round by investing $15 million to support Mintigo’s rapid grow. Mintigo has a cloud-based software platform that enables sales and marketing teams to use data and predictive analytics to increase sales. Mintigo’s own data pool now covers more than 200 million individuals and 15 million companies. The technology has also been successfully integrated with top marketing clouds including Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft, Adobe and Marketo, lowering the total cost of ownership and speeding implementation. Mintigo was founded in 2009 by CEO Dr. Jacob Shama, CTO Ehud Ben-Reuven, and VP Custimer Success Tal Segalov. The company’s offices are in Ra’anana, Israel and San Mateo, California.
Three Israeli Startups Selected By Dreamit Health Accelerator
April 6, 2016 | Three Israeli startups, Somatix, Cellepathy, and Medaware, are among the 15 health startups selected by Philadelphia-based accelerator Dreamit Health to join its prestigious 2016 accelerator class. As a result of their selection, the Israeli startups will benefit from a robust program of mentorships, workshops, exclusive systems and data, and meetings with industry experts and early-stage investors. Dreamit is one of the top 10 accelerators in the world, with only a 3.7% acceptance rate to its 2016 accelerator.
Oramed Completes Phase IIb Oral Insulin Study
April 6, 2016 | Israeli biomedical company Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral drug delivery systems, announced today that all follow-up visits in the Company’s Phase IIb study of its oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801, have been completed. The study, of 180 patients with type 2 diabetes, was initiated on June 30, 2015 and conducted at 33 clinical sites in the United States. The study was designed to generate ample data for both safety and efficacy endpoints. Top-line results are expected later this quarter. Founded in 2006 and led by CEO Nadav Kidron, Oramed announced in late December the closing of a $50 million + 10% royalties licensing and investment agreement with Hefei Tianhui Incubation of Technologies Co. Ltd. for its oral insulin capsule in China.
Israeli Camera Sensor Company Unispectral Raises $7.5M
April 5, 2016 | Israeli startup Unispectral today announced the closing of a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Jerusalem Venture Partners(JVP), Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), Samsung Catalyst Fund and The Tel Aviv University Technology Innovation Momentum Fund. This brings to $8 million, the money raised by the company to date. The company is developing the next generation of digital cameras which will use hyper-spectral sensors for enhanced seeing and sensing capabilities. The company’s algorithms can analyze, with just the image, a material’s characteristics. This technology is already used in laboratories but Unispectral’s relative advantage is in its miniaturization of sensors so that they can be installed in smartphones and marketed to the public at large. Unispectral CEO Rami Feig, a former commander in the IDF Intelligence Corp’s Technology Unit, founded the company earlier this year with Prof. David Mendelevich and Ariel Raz. The company has 12 employees in its Ramat Gan offices and plans on hiring eight more staff members this year.
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Hundreds Gather At Forbes’ First 30 Under 30 Conference In Israel
April 5, 2016 | Some 600 participants from around the globe, including 200 each from Israel, Europe and North America, gathered in Tel Aviv on Monday for the “Forbes 30 Under 30” summit to celebrate innovation and business. The summit, the first Forbes has held outside of the US, spotlights successful young business people. The event kicked off with an address from Israel’s former President Shimon Peres. Also participating was Yossi Vardi, one of Israel’s early entrepreneurs who has co-founded, led, and participated in building over 60 high-tech companies. Shai Agassi, who captured the nation’s imagination with the ultimately- failed electric car company Better Place, spoke at the summit of the importance of taking risks and being willing to fail, saying that “the margin between failure and success is minuscule.” Also, Meron Gribetz, the CEO of augmented- reality company Meta, announced that the company would open its first R&D center in Israel. Zosia Mamet, star of the television series Girls and X-Men actor Evan Jonigkeit came to deliver a message on the importance of storytelling in business. Monica Lewinsky, who has turned her career towards speaking out against cyberbullying, is slated to give a talk on the importance of kindness in a speech later in the week. Those featured on Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list include: Roy Reznik (27), Co-Founder of Adallom, which was sold last summer to Microsoft for $320 million, Adi Altschuler (29), an educational entrepreneur leading social projects for small businesses at Google Israel, Israeli actress and fashion model Gal (Wonder Woman) Gadot, Omri Casspi, of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and Israeli media notables such as Amalia Duek, Yair Sherky and Chen Liberman. The summit will continue with events in Jerusalem, a service day, and a hackathon. Israeli entrepreneur and investor.
Cancer Metabolism Startup Metabomed Raises $18M
April 5, 2016 | Israeli cancer metabolism company Metabomed LTD. announced today that it has completed an extension of its Series A round from current and new investors, bringing the total of its raise to $18 million. Existing investors include MS Ventures, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Pontifax Fund, and the Technion Research and Development Foundation. New investors Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Arkin Holdings also joined the round. Metabomed was co-founded by MS Ventures and three leading researchers in the field of cancer metabolism and computational biology — Prof. Eyal Gottlieb from the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, UK, Prof. Eytan Ruppin from Tel Aviv University and the University of Maryland, and Prof. Tomer Shlomi from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Metabomed is focusing on the discovery and development of potential small molecule drugs directed against novel targets in the field of cancer metabolism. Based on its proprietary interdisciplinary target identification platform, Metabomed utilizes a unique approach to discovery, which allows the company to potentially identify new targets that form a synthetic lethal gene pair with metabolic genes inactivated in cancer cells. By inhibiting these targets, Metabomed intends to develop more selective anti-cancer drugs that may potentially be highly targeted, and therefore sparing of normal cells. Metabomed operates out of the facilities at the MS Ventures Israel BioIncubator, which has supported the development of the new start-up with its infrastructure and a wide range of incubation services. Following the completion of this round, Simone Botti, current Head of the MS Ventures Israel BioIncubator, will leave his position in order to join Metabomed as its full-time CEO.
BiondVax’s Flu Vaccine Trial Recruitment Complete
April 4, 2016 | Israel’s BiondVax Pharmaceuticals announced today that recruitment of all 224 participants in a Phase 2b clinical trial of M-001, its universal flu vaccine candidate, is complete. The trial, conducted in collaboration with the EU-sponsored UNISEC consortium, is designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of M-001 when used ahead of an avian influenza vaccine. According to the company, this milestone brings their multi-strain and multi-season vaccine against seasonal and pandemic flu one step closer to market. Results from this trial are expected late 2016 or early 2017. BiondVax was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Nes Ziona.
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Israel’s Chief Scientist To Present At OECD, European Parliament
April 4, 2016 | Israel’s chief scientist Avi Hasson will present Israeli innovations to members of the European Parliament and to officials at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Europe this week. The meetings will focus on how innovative technologies can help Europe cope with the massive waves of immigration into the continent.
Magal Acquires Canada’s Aimetis For $14M
April 3, 2016 | Israeli security solutions provider Magal Security Systems (MAGS) controlled by FIMI Opportunity Funds, is acquiring a Canadian company, Ontario-based video camera security software solutions provider Aimetis, at an enterprise value of $14 million. According to the Canadian company’s website, its solutions are sold through distributors in over 100 countries around the world. The company also has branches in Brazil, Germany, China, and Dubai. As of the end of 2015, Magal had $30.4 million in cash. Magal will acquire Aimetis through its fully-owned Senstar subsidiary. Magal’s market cap is $82 million. The company is active in three fields: perimeter defense systems, perimeter security projects for sensitive installations and special events, and cyber defense. The company made a $3.1 million net profit in 2015. FIMI, controlled by Ishay Davidi, acquired control of Magal in the summer of 2014 at a company value of $60 million, paying Nathan Kirsh, the previous controlling shareholder, $23 million for his holdings. The share price for the deal was $3.50, compared with the current share price of $5. Magal was founded in 1965 as a branch of the Israel Aerospace Industry focused on the development of smart security fences. The company was privatized in 1980 and had its IPO on NASDAQ in 1993.
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Moody’s Confirms Israel’s A1 Rating
April 3, 2016 | International credit rating agency Moody’s, the most conservative of the three major international rating agencies, today confirmed Israel’s A1 rating with a stable outlook. In the announcement accompanying its rating, Moody’s economists explained that the rating was supported by economic flexibility and the great effectiveness of the government, which is constantly working to improve Israel’s debt and financing figures. Moody’s describes Israel’s economy as very strong, with growth supported primarily by high-tech exports. Writing about this sector, Moody’s economists say that it rests on a highly educated population and high R&D expenditure. Israel’s debt is low by international standards, and Israel dealt effectively with the crisis that engulfed the world’s economies.The agency also states that were it not for Israel’s geopolitical risks, its credit rating would be higher. However, Moody’s forecasts 2.9% economic growth and 0.6% inflation in 2016, compared with 2.5% growth and minus 1% inflation in 2015.
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Outbrain Unveils ‘Outbrain for Chat’
April 3, 2016 | Israeli content recommendation platform Outbrain is launching “Outbrain for Chat,” a service that enables any publisher to seamlessly launch Applications (or Content Bots) across leading messaging platforms in minutes. Founded in 2006 by Yaron Galai and Ori Lahov, Outbrain’s new offering combines the unique power of its personalization platform with access to a proprietary Editorial Chat Management System or “ECMS”. The result is a unique interactive content experience that allows publishers to join editorial programming with true content personalization. Born out of Outbrain’s Innovation Lab, the flexible technology platform that powers Outbrain for Chat has the potential to operate in a number of environments, opening up possibilities for interactions that venture beyond a single provider. This new end-to-end technology can be adapted to any UI and powers publishers with the tools to tap into the fastest-growing channel for user adoption and attention.
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Direct Flight Connects Silicon Valley To Silicon Wadi
April 1, 2016 | The first direct flight from Tel Aviv to San Francisco will take off today, inaugurating a new thrice-weekly route by United Airlines using Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 passenger jets with 252 seats, including 48 in business class. The flights will take off from Tel Aviv at 1:00 AM on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and land in San Francisco at 6:00 AM of the same day. Return flights will take off from San Francisco’s airport at 8:00 PM on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and land in Israel at 8:00 PM on the following day (all the times are for Israel). The westerly flights will take 15 hours and the easterly flights 14 hours. Ticket prices will be from $1,000 for tourist class and $5,000 for business class. The main target market for these flights is businessmen in high-tech, as San Francisco airport serves the Silicon Valley, just an hour south of the city by car. “The alternatives currently available to flyers from Tel Aviv to San Francisco are 20-27-hour flights with a connection via Europe or the US,” said United Airlines Israel managing director Avi Friedman. “The route we are launching is a competitive declaration with an emphasis on the flight time and convenient flight hours in both directions.” United Airlines has been operating in Israel since 1999, formerly under the Continental Airlines brand name, before that was merged with United Airlines in 2010. The company’s Tel Aviv branch has 44 employees, which Friedman has headed since it was founded. In addition to the San Francisco route, the company operates flights from Tel Aviv to New York twice a day. In total, United Airlines and related airline United Express operate 5,000 flights daily on six continents through 342 airports.
Playbuzz Raises $15M From Saban, Disney
March 31, 2016 | Playbuzz, an Israeli online content engagement and social distribution startup, has raised $15 million in new funding, led by Saban Ventures with participation from The Walt Disney Company. Existing investors 83North (formerly Greylock IL), Carmel Ventures and FirstTime Ventures also participated in the investment round. Last March, the startup raised $16 million. Playbuzz will use the investment to further enhance its proprietary content-engagement platform and expand its sponsored content business, which already works with many of the world’s leading brands to create and distribute native advertising campaigns at scale. Founded in 2012 by CEO Shaul Olmer, the son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and CTO Tom Pachys, Playbuzz enables publishers, bloggers, marketers and brands to connect with audiences in a meaningful and share-worthy way, through interactive storytelling in easily digestible formats such as quizzes, lists, surveys, ranking and more. The company has 100 employees in its offices in Tel Aviv, New York, London, Hamburg and Nashville. The Playbuzz platform is used by tens of thousands of publishers, brands and content creators to create and distribute content in formats that optimize audience engagement and social distribution. Examples of Playbuzz’s innovative content formats include slideshows, flip cards, galleries, quizzes, lists and video snaps.
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BreezoMeter Partners With Dyson Purifier
March 31, 2016 | Israel’s BreezoMeter, a big data analytics company founded in 2014 by Revital Hendler, Ran Korber, Ziv Lautman, and Emil Fisher which provides dynamic air quality data in real-time, announced the use of its software platform in the new Dyson Pure Cool™ Link air purifier. BreezoMeter’s data will be used to provide users with live access to outdoor air quality data on their mobile devices. The new purifier will provide users with an indication of the air quality in their homes, automatically purifying pollutants from the air, and displaying to the user which pollutants it detects. Designed to capture the smallest particles – including pollen and bacteria - The Pure Cool™ Link purifier alsdo traps odors and harmful toxins, such as paint fumes. The purifier, which will be complemented by the Dyson Link App which enables users to keep track of air quality history and peak pollution times – for example, during allergy seasons or when cleaning or cooking. outdoor air quality readings will help users stay on top of the air quality levels in all areas that are part of their day-to-day lives.
