16 February 2016 | The United Kingdom and Israel will deepen cooperation on cyber security with a new academic agreement whereby universities from both countries will cooperate closely to research and mitigate cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, such as electricity grids, water treatment facilities, and transport lines. The announcement will be made by British Cabinet Minister Matthew Hancock who is in Israel this week leading a trade delegation of British government officials, private companies, and academics. “I welcome this opportunity to forge even closer links in the field of cyber security with our Israeli partners,” the Minister said in a statement. “The UK’s world class companies and universities combined with Israel’s cutting edge technology and entrepreneurial culture is an unbeatable combination.” The Minister will also announce an agreement between the Cyber Emergency Response Teams of both countries (CERT-UK and CERT-IL), enabling the organisations to share incident information, malware analysis, methodologies, policies and best practices. Visiting Israel for the first time, Minister Hancock will discuss bilateral relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visit Ben Gurion’s University cluster of cyber security startups at CyberSpark, as well as Israel Electric’s CyberGym, and numerous other private sector companies. Organised by the UK Israel Tech Hub, the Minister’s visit comes after Prime Minister Netanyahu met British Prime Minister David Cameron in September of last year, and shortly after the Israeli electricity grid and the Israeli Ministry of Finance came under cyber attack; both incidents were quickly mitigated without severe damage.
News Briefs
UK Deepens Cyber Security Cooperation With Israel
Teddy Sagi Wins Approval For Camden Lock Market Upgrade
February 15, 2016 | Market Tech Holdings, in which Israeli entrepreneur Teddy Sagi is a majority shareholder, has received permission to start a planned £20 million renovation of Camden Lock Market and other adjacent properties. The planning permission covers a 130,000 sq ft area in and around the site in north London, which will be refurbished to expand the market area and make space for new restaurants, galleries and an auditorium for live entertainment. The plans will also create a new path along the Camden Canal and open up a section currently not available to the public, known as the Dead Dog Basin. The proposal also includes permission for 233 food and artisan stalls in the East and West Yards. Market Tech Holdings, which owns around 15 acres of land in and around Camden, said Camden Council unanimously backed the plans to revamp the site and described it as a “major step” for the company. Work is expected to start this year in time for completion in 2017.
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Currency Exchange Platform Covercy Raises $1.5M Seed
February 15, 2016 | Israeli currency exchange startup Covercy has closed a $1.5 million funding round led by SGVC. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Doron Cohen, Covercy has developed a secure and fast way to send money abroad, without banking exchange and remittance costs. The company has so far been granted licenses by the UK’s FCA as an Authorized Payment Institution and a Currency Services Provider through Israel’s Ministry of Finance. The investment by SGVC is part of a new $50 million fund launched this year by the venture firm to target US and Israeli firms.
California Stem Cell Research Institute Partners With Israel
February 14, 2016 | The Israeli Science and Technology Minister Ophir Akunis has signed an agreement between his ministry and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for research cooperation in the field of biotechnology, with a focus on stem cells. The agreement, facilitated by the Israeli-American Council, will provide a new framework for advancing joint stem cell research. Founded in 2004 to advance stem cell research, the San Francisco-based CIRM will provide research funding alongside the Israeli ministry
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Cellepathy Wins ConnecteDriver Auto App Challenge
February 14, 2016 | Israeli startup Cellepathy has won first place in the ConnecteDriver 2016 Auto App Challenge for a product that uses artificial intelligence to improve turn-by-turn driving instructions. The product, Ergo, analyzes a driver’s history in order to identify which instructions the person already knows, and which are unfamiliar and important. This makes it possible to tailor the delivery of turn-by-turn instructions so that drivers get the information that they really need to hear, without being bothered by unnecessary announcements. “Drivers are constantly making decisions about their navigation software. When to turn it on, when to turn it off, when to mute it, and when to raise the volume” says Dan Abramson, CEO of Cellepathy. “Ergo automates all of that using artificial intelligence and pattern recognition.” Founded in 2011, Cellepathy does not intend to launch another end-to-end navigation product. It describes Ergo as a Personalization Engine that will be licensed to any existing guidance system—whether an app, a car’s infotainment dashboard, or a standalone GPS device. “Navigation companies compete aggressively on features and user experience” says Sean Ir, VP Marketing “Ergo will provide our partners with a huge point of differentiation in the marketplace.” As a result of their win at ConnecteDriver 2016, Cellepathy will accept an invitation from Bosch SoftTech to work on implementing Ergo with mySPIN. A number of other navigation software providers and automakers are evaluating Ergo for integration into their products as well.
Cool Cousin Wins Smart Tourism Award
February 14, 2016 | Israeli tourism startup Cool Cousin was awarded the Smart Tourism Award last week at the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) event in Tel Aviv. Founded in 2015 by five entrepreneurs, Cool Cousin is a matching app that pairs locals with travellers with similar interests. The aim of the app, which is still in beta, is to help tourists discover the “coolest” people and their personal recommendations in every city.
Fintech Startup Capitalise Wins Finovate Europe Competition
14 February 2016 | Israeli fintech startup Capitalise has won the Best in Show prize at this year’s Finovate Europe event. Founded in 2014 Shahar Rabin and Amir Shiovich, Capitalise has developed an automated trading platform that carries out pre-defined trades based on specific market conditions. The company, whose product is still in R&D, was one of the hundreds of companies competing at the startup conference held in London this past week with the aim of offering a glimpse of what the future holds for fintech and e-payments.
Recruitment Startup Woo Raised $2.35M In Seed
February 11, 2016 | Israeli recruitment startup Woo (formerly Highr.io) has raised $2.35 million in seed funding from angel investors and tech executives, including Lord David Alliance and Moshe Lichtman of Israel Growth Partners, a former senior executive at Microsoft who founded and served as president of the Israel-based R&D center. Founded in 2o15 by CEO Liran Kotzer and CTO Ami Dudu, Woo lets employees anonymously contact top tech companies to see what jobs are available and how much they pay. The company plans to use the funds to scale its platform and expand its footprint both in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as in additional regional markets.
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Cyber Security Startup Hexadite Raises $8M
February 11, 2016 | Israeli cyber security startup Hexadite has raises $8 million in a Series A round of funding, led by Hewlett Packard Ventures, Ten Eleven Ventures, and YL Ventures, who also invested in Hexadite’s seed round. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate R&D in Israel, expand its marketing and sales operations worldwide, and continue to build momentum for its solution, which fully automates cyber security incident response. Founded in 2014 by CEO Eran Barak and CTO Idan Levin, Hexadite is protecting more than 500,000 devices in the financial services, retail, technology, insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, life sciences, and healthcare industries.
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Fraud Detection Platform Riskifield Raises $25M
February 11, 2016 | Israeli fraud prevention platform Riskifield has raised $25 million in a round led by Qumra Capital with participation from The Phoenix Holdings, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, and existing investors, Genesis Partners and Entrée Capital. The new funding will enable the company to further develop and market its products to global retailers; Burberry, Wish and Viagogo are already customers. Founded in 2012 by CEO Eido Gal and CTO Assaf Feldman, Riskified has developed an e-commerce fraud prevention platform, which makes it easier for online merchants to accept high risk credit card transactions. In other words, the company reviews, approves and guarantees transactions that merchants might otherwise decline. The company also offers 100 percent money back guaranteed in the event that it approves a fraudulent transaction.
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Israeli Cyber Security Company Cynet Raises $7M
February 11, 2016 | Israeli cyber security startup Cynet has raised $7 million, in a round led by the Denver, CO based Lazarus Israel Fund. The new financing will enable the company to further develop and market their product globally. Founded in 2015 by Eyal Gruner, Idan Amir, and Boaz Zilber, Cybet provides an all-in-one cybersecurity solution for detection and remediation of advanced and unknown threats. Since its launch, the company has already grown its client base to include dozens of large-scale enterprises in finance, healthcare, government, retail, and industrial sectors.
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Weizmann Profs Win Israel Prize In Chemistry & Physics
February 10, 2016 | The Israel Prize jury awarded Prof. Meir Lahav and Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz of the Weizmann Institute of Science the 2016 prize in chemistry and physics. The jury, headed by Prof. Itamar Willner, cited the pair’s joint breakthroughs in understanding the processes of self-assembly of chiral structures, molecules that have can take two forms which are mirror images of each other (thalidomide is the most famous example).
Singulariteam Is Israel’s Most Active Fund, According To IVC Report
February 10, 2016| Israeli fund Singulariteam made the most investments into Israeli startups in 2015, according to a report released today by Israeli research firm IVC and Israeli law firm APM & Co. Founded by Moshe Hogeg and Kenges Rakishev with $232 million under management, Singulariteam made 12 first investments in 2015, outpacing last year’s most active fund, Jerusalem Venture Partners by two deals. Placing second, with nine first investments each, were Israeli fund Carmel Ventures and American fund Innovation Endeavors, co-founded by Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt and Dror Berman. Carmel, with $802 million under management, invested from its vintage 2014 fourth fund. The third place is shared by two Israeli funds, Magma and TheTime, with eight investments each. Magma, with $450 million under management, invested from its fourth fund, raised in 2014, while TheTime is managing a $60 million fund dedicated to companies that started in their incubator. The Most Active Micro VC fund was crowdsourcing platform OurCrowd, with seven first investments from its vintage 2014 $10 million fund. Following OurCrowd was lool Ventures with six investments from a $33 million fund closed in 2011.
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ViaSurgical Raises $6M For Hernia Repair Device
February 10, 2016 | Israeli medical device company Via Surgical has raised $6 million for its cartridge-based hernia repair device FasTouch, which has already received FDA approval. The device includes a reloadable cartridge with lockable sutures that close around the mesh and the tissue, which helps prevent foreign objects from entering. Benslie Investment Group led the funding and Nicolas Weinstein, a managing partner at Benslie, will join the company’s board of directors. “Their investment will greatly support the increasing clinical demand for improved fixation through our development and commercialization efforts in 2016,” Via Surgical CEO Lena Levin said in a statement.
mifold Raises Additional $1.5M For Foldable Carseat
February 9, 2016 | Israeli car seat startup mifold has raised $1.5 million, led by Sweet Capital, the new investment fund created by the founders of King Digital Entertainment. Investors in the round include Founder of Silver Cloud Ventures Joe Stelzer, CEO of King Digital Entertainment Riccardo Zacconi, and former Barneys CEO Howard Socol. Fhttp://www.mifold.com/ounded by Jon Sumroy, mifold has developed a car safety seat that is one-tenth the size of existing products. The company has already has already pre-sold $1 million worth of its grab-n-go booster seats to nearly 13,000 customers in more than 100 countries and raised $3.3 million, including a successful crowdfunding campaign.
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