News Briefs

November 18, 2015 | Beijing will host the largest-ever China-Israel Technology, Innovation & Investment Summit, 4-6 January 2016. In response to the growing Chinese interest in the Israeli economy and companies, the summit has been organized by Israel’s Ministry of the Economy and the Infinity Fund, which are planning to bring more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, businesspeople, investors, and senior government officials from the two countries. Infinity Israel-China Fund managing director Eyal Rosenthal said, “Chinese investment in Israeli technologies will exceed $10 billion within five years,” highlighting particular sectors, including Internet and Mobile, Agritech, Cleantech, Life Sciences, Smart Cities, and Applied Industrial Technology.

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November 18, 2015 | The Israeli technological incubator Trendlines has launched a S$25 million ($17.6 million) IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Founded in 1993 and led by Co-Chairmans and Co-CEOs Todd Dollinger and Steve Rhodes, Trendlines develops early stage companies in the medical and agtech sectors. The company will become the second Israeli listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange, after Sarin Technologies, which develops technology for the diamond industry. Trendlines is offering 75.7 million shares at S$0.33 apiece, and aims to use the fresh capital to make new and follow-up investments.

 

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November 18, 2015 | Everysight, a spin-off the Israeli defense electronics company Elbit, will launch a line of cycling smart-glasses, offering cyclists display technology developed for pilots. Expected to be on the market in 2016, Raptor smart-glasses, which look and feel like traditional sports eyewear, will also be equipped with Everysight Beam technology, a unique see-through display technology that crisply overlays information directly in the wearer’s line of sight. With Everysight Beam, the lens itself serves as the augmented display, eliminating offset displays found on other smart-glasses. Everysight Beam avoids peripheral distractions, reduces eyestrain and eliminates opaque display elements that can obscure the view.

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November 17, 2015 | Israeli fin-tech startup VATBox has joined MasterCard’s accelerator, Start Path. The six month program in Berlin will bring VATBox into a global network of MasterCard experts and commercial partners, and enable VATBox to integrate with MasterCard solutions. Founded in 2012 by CEO Isaac Saft, VATBox is a cloud-based solution for companies to reclaim all potential Value-Added Tax (VAT) paid abroad easily and automatically. To date, the Tel Aviv-based startup has raised $24 million.

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November 17, 2015 | Israeli founded online advertising company, Matomy Media Group, has acquired New York-based Optimatic Media for $25 million. Optimatic is a programmatic monetization platform for video advertising that will operate as an independent subsidiary within the Matomy Group, and its current management team will remain in place. Founded in 2007, by CEO Ofer Druker, Matomy has been traded on the London Stock Exchange since its IPO in 2014.

 

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November 17, 2015 | FundersGuild, the New York-based venture fund founded by David Wolfson, has appointed Co-Founder of Taykey, Itay Birnboim, to expand the firm’s reach into the Israeli market. The fund has already invested in three Israeli companies: Glide, Namogoo, Panoply.io, but aims to invest millions of dollars into Israeli startups, especially in fin-tech, augmented and virtual reality, computer vision, unmanned aerial vehicles, and IoT security. As an early stage investment vehicle, FundersGuild expects the average investment to be $200,000, and hopes to invest in ten companies within the coming year.

 

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November 17, 2015 | Israeli neuroscience company ElMindA has raised $28 million in their Series C round. Investors in this round included Shanda Group, The Kraft Group, Wexford Capital, WR Hambrecht & Co, Palisade Capital Management, and OurCrowd. Found in 2006 by CTO Prof Amir Geva, ElMindA has developed a non-invasive method, using their Brain Network Activation (BNA™) platform, to analyze and visualize in high resolution the complex neuro-physiological interconnections of the human brain, capturing information on the composition, connectivity, synchronization and operation of brain networks. The company has raised $43 million to date, and the device received FDA approval for neurological disorders in 2014.

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November 16, 2015 | The Israel Biotech Fund, a new fund founded by Dr. Yuval Cabilly will receive investment of $50-100 million from Nasdaq-traded biomedical company Biogen, and Cabilly’s father, Dr. Shmuel Cabilly, a renowned oncologist and research scientist. According to Globes, the fund is intended to focus on Israeli biotech companies, an area of investment in which the Cabillys already have considerable experience.

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November 16, 2015 | Israeli ADHD drug development company Alcobra has raised $40 million in its offering on the Nasdaq. The company announced on Friday that it has priced its public offering of 6,175,000 ordinary shares at $6.50 per share – $1.50 lower than its IPO price of $8 per share in 2013, and almost $18 lower than its peak price at the end of 2013. Alcobra plans to use the net proceeds from the latest offering to fund its future clinical development program for its primary drug candidate, MG01CI, currently in Phase II of clinical trials. Led by CEO Yaron Daniely, the biomedical company is based in Tel Aviv, where is it is developing other treatments for cognitive disorders, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Fragile X Syndrome.

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November 15, 2015 |  Tracx, an Israeli-founded business analytics startup, has been listed on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Tracx grew 1527.12% from 2011 to 2014. Founded in 2008 by Yaniv Ben-Arie and Ofer Fort, Tracx’s product offering analyzes and refines mass amounts of geographic, demographic and psychographic data from across the social web to deliver deep insights into customers, competitors and influencers. Clients such as BMW, Kraft Foods, and Rolex rely on Tracx to identify and target audiences, improve planning, enhance monitoring, and effectively engage consumers. Led by CEO Rick Rudman, Tracx is headquartered in New York City with offices in Tel Aviv and London.

 

 

 

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November 15, 2015 | Herzliya-based OrbiMed and Silicon Valley-based InterWest led a $32 million round of funding for medical eye device company Avedro. The additional capital strengthens Avedro’s balance sheet as it continues to expand global distribution of its ophthalmological KXL corneal cross-linking platform and commences commercialization outside of the United States of its Mosaic System. The Mosaic System performs a procedure called PiXL™ (Photorefractive Intrastromal Cross-Linking) which has the potential to deliver non-surgical correction of myopia, and improve cataract surgery outcomes.

 

 

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November 15, 2015 | Israeli energy company Panoramic Power has been acquired by British utility Centrica for $60 million. The acquisition builds upon an existing partnership between Panoramic Power and Centrica’s US unit, Direct Energy, which began in June 2014. Founded in 2009 by Chairman Dr. David Almagor and COO/CTO Adi Shamir, Panoramic Power’s energy management solution offers industrial and commercial customers wireless and self-powered circuit-level technology with cloud-based analytics. Led by CEO Yaniv Vardi, Panoramic’s investors include Greylock Partners, Israel Cleantech Ventures Funds, Clal Energy, and Qualcomm Ventures.

 

 

 

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November 15, 2015 | Israeli photo gallery app MyRoll has been acquired by AVG. No financial details about the acquisition were disclosed but media reports say that it was for about $5 million. Flayvr, the parent company of MyRoll and its sister app Gallery Doctor was founded in 2012 by CEO Ron Levy and CTO Adi Ashkenazi – both veterans of the IDF 8200 Intelligence unit. The company raised $2.5 million. The company will now join AVG’s Mobile Center of Excellence in Tel Aviv.

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November 12, 2015 | Israeli voice calling app Yallo has announced the launch of its iOS app, as well as an additional $2.5 million in funding. The new funding comes from German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom, through T-Ventures, their strategic investment arm, and Carmel Ventures. Founded in 2012 and led by CEO Tal Elyashiv, Yallo allows users to record and share incoming calls.

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November 12, 2015 | Israeli mobile app testing company Perfecto Mobile has raised $35 million from new investor Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), with participation from existing investors FTV Capital, Carmel Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners and Vertex Ventures. Founded in 2006 by CEO Eran Yariv, CTO Yoram Mizrahi and Jacky Allal, Perfecto offers app developers the ability to continuously test and monitor mobile and digital user experiences in real time. The startup has more than 1,500 customers, including 50% of the Fortune 500 across the banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications and media industries, and has so far raised a total of $90 million.

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