March 22, 2016 | The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAid are helping the people of Fiji in the wake of Cyclone Winston. They currently focus on water purification and desalination in the village of Vuma in the island of Ovalau. The February cyclone left hundreds of thousands without basic necessities, and thousands are still in emergency shelters.
News Briefs
March 22, 2016
Israel Helps Fiji In Wake Of Cyclone
March 21, 2016
Israeli Test Prep Startup LTG Raises $5.3M
March 21, 2016 | Israeli standardized test preparation startup LTG Exam Platform closed a $5.325 million in a seies A financing round led by Square Peg Capital and other investors including Atlas Venture, Jamie McCourt, Edward and Mitch Roberts, Margot Lebenberg Carter, Brian Shin and Eric Dobkin. Already used by over half a million students worldwide, LTG’s mobile apps for standardized test preparation provide a free alternative to test preparation classes can which can often cost students thousands of dollars. LTG designs its apps based on a proprietary algorithm that detects student’s individual learning patterns and dynamically optimizes the study process for that student. With the new funds, LTG will invest in creating an even more individualized approach for students by enabling developers to incorporate additional innovative features.
March 20, 2016
Technion Prof Gets Award, Makes Most Influential List
March 20, 2016 | This weekend Professor Hossam Haick of the Technion received the Humboldt Research Award in Germany and was also selected as one of the 100 influential figures published by GOOD Magazine. The Humboldt, awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany, is given to prominent researchers who have significantly influenced their fields of study. It is granted in recognition of a researcher’s achievements as a whole – discoveries, theories, and insights. Prof. Haick, a member of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Technion’s Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, received the award for his tremendous contribution to the diagnosis of diseases through innovative markers that he discovered in his research at the Technion. These are markers that are present in the breath and skin. At the same time as the announcement about the Humboldt Award, Prof. Haick was included in the list of the world’s 100 most influential people published by GOOD Magazine in Los Angeles. The list includes people from 37 countries who contribute to the welfare of humankind in various aspects, including science, education, and business. Prof. Hossam Haick earned his doctorate in the field of energy and only later switched to biomedical technology. His unique development, an inexpensive and noninvasive system for diagnosing diseases based on breath, was inspired by dogs, who know how to identify disease but not to tell the person what disease he has. Haick developed a digital system that accurately diagnoses the disease and its stage of development. Currently he is working on several aspects of the system, including diagnosis of additional diseases and an interface that connects it to a smartphone.
March 20, 2016
Medical Software Startup DiACardio Raises $1.95M
March 20, 2016 |Israeli medical startup DiACardio raised $1.95 million in a post-seed financing round led by China’s Shengjing Group. Other investors in the round include CE Ventures and AltaIR as well as existing backers Agate-Mac Fund and Capital Point Ltd. Based in Beersheva, DiACardio offers software that automates the process of evaluating ultrasounds of the heart, also known as echocardiograms. Based on a new image processing method the company invented, unique and innovative algorithms evaluate the function of the heart fast, accurately and automatically. The software is FDA & CE approved. The Company won 1st place at the Shengjing Global Innovation Awards 2015 and 1st place at the ICI Awards 2015 for innovation in Cardiology. This investment will enable the Company to expand its automated toolbox to other areas of the heart that need automation and expand their business in the US, Europe and the emerging markets. The Company, which started as an incubator company in 2010, was formed by 5 founders: Arnon Toussia-Cohen, Hila Goldman-Aslan, Michal Yaacobi, Dr. Noah Liel-Cohen M.D.,and Prof. Hugo Guterman.
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March 17, 2016
Israeli Startup Shoppimon Raises $2.3M
March 17, 2016 | Shoppimon, an Israeli e-commerce performance monitoring startup, has raised $2.3 million in seed financing round from investors including, AOL, StageOne Ventures, Explore and 2B-Angels. Shoppimon’s solution monitors online store performance by mimicking the experience of its customers. By focusing on a wide range of problems e-commerce sites face, Shoppimon identifies and alerts its users to a wide range of issues that prevent their customers from purchasing, and which they have no other way of knowing about. Founded in 2012 by CEO Roy Rosinnes and CTO Shahar Evron, following this round of funding the Tel Aviv based company plans to grow their team, expand their product offering to additional e-commerce platforms, and continue scaling to thousands more clients around the globe.
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March 17, 2016
Israeli Scientists Develop New Human Stem Cells With Half A Genome
March 17, 2016 | Scientists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute (NYSCF) have succeeded in generating a new type of embryonic stem cell that carries a single copy of the human genome, instead of the two copies typically found in normal stem cells. This development could advance research in gene editing, genetic screening and regenerative medicine. Derived from a female egg, the stem cells are the first human cells known to be capable of cell division with just one copy of the parent cell’s genome. The breakthrough is expected to reduce the complexity of identifying genetic abnormalities, which in turn could advance understanding of many diseases.
March 16, 2016
Payoneer Acquires Armor Payments
March 16, 2016 | Israeli payment platform Payoneer has completed its acquisition of California-based Armor Payments, a business-to-business payments provider offering Escrow-as-a-Service (EaaS). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “The acquisition will enable buyers and sellers, whether transacting directly or through B2B marketplaces, to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with high-value B2B purchases by making secure, online escrow payments anywhere in the world,” according to Payoneer. Payoneer was founded in 2005 by Ben Yaniv Chechik and Yuval Tal.
March 16, 2016
1776 Challenge Cup Coming To Tel Aviv
March 16, 2016 | Global incubator 1776 will host a startup competition in Tel Aviv on March 30. The competitors will have a chance to showcase their innovations and businesses to a panel of judges. Called “The Challenge Cup,” this worldwide tournament features “the most promising, world-changing startups,” according to 1776. Based in the US, 1776 supports startups that transform industries that impact millions of lives every day — in the fields of education, energy, sustainability, health and transportation.
March 15, 2016
Teva Gets FDA Approval For First-ever Generic Viagra
March 15, 2016 | The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. approval for the first-ever generic version of Viagra. Teva’s generic version, which will be available to the public in the US from December 11 2017, will be available in 25, 50 and 100 milligram tablets and Teva will have 180 days exclusive generic marketing. Viagra is a branded drug produced and marketed by Pfizer. After protracted patent litigation, in which Pfizer claimed its patent was good until 2020, the two companies came to a compromise agreement in 2013, allowing Teva to market a generic version of the drug from December 2017.
March 15, 2016
Next Insurance Raises $13M in Seed Round
March 15, 2016 | Israeli startup Next Insurance has announced a $13 million seed round led by Zeev Ventures, TLV Partners, and Ribbit Capital. Founded by Guy Goldstein, Nissim Tapiro, and Alon Huri, Next Insurance plans to launch a solution for how small businesses find and obtain insurance online. Zeev Ventures is the investment arm of Oren Zeev, who has been the main early backer of market leaders such as Audible, Houzz, Chegg, Tipalti and Younow. TLV Partners, a new Israeli VC fund dedicated to investing in innovative A-round startups, was founded by two of Israel’s distinguished venture capitalists that have backed companies such as Varonis, Traiana, Check, Videosurf, AppsFlyer and Skycure. Ribbit Capital is a Palo Alto based venture capital firm that invests globally in unique individuals and brands who are aiming to change financial services.
March 15, 2016
Big Data Startup Alooma Raises $11.2M
March 15, 2016 | Israeli big data startup Alooma closed a $11.2 million Series A financing round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, which also invested in the company’s seed round. Based in Tel Aviv, Alooma was co-founded in 2013 by CEO Yoni Broyde, CTO Yair Weinberger, and VP of R&D Rami Amar. Alooma provides a modern ETL platform for data engineers and scientists. The company has raised a total of $15 million to date.
March 14, 2016
Quicargo Picked For Global Accelerator
March 14, 2016 | Israeli startup Quicargo, a real-time bidding platform allowing shippers to book empty cargo space affordably and conveniently, has been selected to join Startupbootcamp Smart City & Living’s accelerator program. The only Israeli startup of the 11 participating, Quicargo was founded in 2015 by Avishai Trabelsi and Roni Liberman. A bootstrapped startup, Quicargo takes advantage of avialable cargo space while saving time, cost, fuel, and minimizing pollution. Founded in 2010, Startupbootcamp is a global startup accelerator with 12 programs in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Eindhoven, Istanbul, London, Miami, New York and Singapore, and a mentor and alumni network in more than 50 countries. During the 3-month program, the 11 selected startups will get insider access to the most relevant connections in the industry, at the end of which, at Demo Day, the teams will present their progress to 300+ investors, partners and mentors.
March 13, 2016
Online Lending Startup EZBob Raises $28M
March 13, 2016 | Online lending platform EZBob has raised over $28 million dollars in Series C funding in a round led by Leumi Partners and Oaktree Capital Management. Founded in 2012, with offices in London and a development center in Herzliya, EZBob has provided loans to over 8,500 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. Having recieved a guarantee of tens of millions of pounds from the European Investment Fund (EIF), the EZBob platform is based on a rapid analysis of the customer’s data from a variety of sources, enabling EZBob to provide short-term loans of £3,000-£120,000 to small and medium-sized businesses. Leumi Partners is the investment arm of Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s biggest banks with a history of investing in technology. Oaktree’s investment was led by Vice Presidents Assaf Littner and Stefano Mazzoli of its London-based European Principal Group, an existing shareholder and debt provider of EZBob.
March 13, 2016
HoneyBook Acquires Israeli Startup AppMyDay
March 13, 2016 | Event management platform, HoneyBook, has acquired Israeli startup AppMyDay, an event photography service, for an undisclosed amount reported to be in the millions of dollars. AppMyDay allows attendees to upload pictures taken during events which event organizers can use for displaying while the event is in progress. AppMyDay was founded in 2012 by Guy Eldar, Omer Shoham, and Ran Entobe, and already raised $900,000 in a seed round in 2014. AppMyDay has been used for thousands of events, with over a million photos uploaded by more than 300,000 users. HoneyBook is a tech hub where event planners and the contractors they hire can manage all facets of their event from any web-enabled device. A Tel Aviv and Silicon-Valley based startup, HoneyBook was founded in 2013 by Oz and Naama Alon, CTO Dror Shimoni, and American entrepreneur Shadiah Sigala.
March 10, 2016
CyberArk Acquires 3rd Israeli Startup, Agata Solutions
March 10, 2016 | Israeli cyber-security giant CyberArk acquired its third Israeli startup in a year, Agata Solutions. The amount of the acquisition has not yet been officially disclosed, but is reported to be in the millions of dollars. Founded by Udi Mokady in 1999, CyberArk is a security company focused on striking targeted cyber threats by helping companies protect their highest-value information assets, infrastructure, and applications. Agata, founded in 2008 by Yaron Natan and Itzik Majar, develops cyber security solutions based on its DPI (deep packet inspection) technology. The acquistion of Agata follows CyberArk’s acquisition of two other Israeli security startups this past year, Cybertinel and Viewfinity.
