News Briefs

October 15, 2015 | Two Israeli startups are on their way to India to join Mukesh Ambani’s incubator GenNext Innovation Hub, which is partnering with Microsoft Ventures. The companies that have been selected are eLoan, a platform for mediating between lenders and borrowers, and InQSec, a cyber security consultancy. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, is believed to be the wealthiest man in India.

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October 14, 2015 | Delek Group could list on the London Stock Exchange as soon as in 2016, according to Haaretz Newspaper. The Israeli oil conglomerate had planned an LSE listing in 2015, but pulled out of the process due to energy market volatility and regulatory issues in Israel.

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October 14, 2015 | Tel Aviv University (TAU) has launched an open international competition for a new £16 million Nano-science and Nanotechnology Center. The estimated 4,000 square meter building is expected to feature 12 laboratories and facilities for up to 120 engineers and researchers. Six shortlisted teams will receive around £33,000 each to participate in the competition’s second stage. A winner will be announced in May 2016.

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October 14, 2015 | Israeli bio-medical company Meditemp has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent with Generex Biotechnology, which according to the letter, could acquire a 51% equity interest in MediTemp in exchange for a purchase price of $5 million. Founded in 2007, MediTemp has developed a proprietary cooling technology designed to improve sperm quality in men rendered infertile due to varicoceles, a condition characterized by enlarged veins (varicose) within the scrotum. The company’s solution is called Varicure, a wearable, compact, portable and comfortable device that facilitates localized cooling of the testicles with the aim of enhancing male fertility by improving sperm quality.

 

 

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October 14, 2015 | Israeli bio-medical company, Medgenics closed its secondary share offering, raising $46 million. The Galilee-based company opted to issue more shares after its share price climbed over 50% between January and September of this year. Currently, the company’s market capitalization is $236 million. Founded in 2000 and led by CEO Michael Cola, Medgenics is developing a technology platform called TARGT that will help to treat patients with rare and orphan diseases.

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October 14, 2015 | Cyber security startup SentinelOne closed its Series B round of financing at $25 million, bringing the total amount raised to $40 million. Third Point Ventures led the current round, in which previous investors Tiger Global, Data Collective, Westly Group, Granite Capital Partners, and SineWave Ventures also participated. The Silicon Valley based accelerator for Israeli startups, UpWest Labs was SentinelOne’s first investor. The Tel Aviv-founded company, run by Co-Founder and CEO Tomer Weingarten, has developed next generation anti-virus protection that is based on machine learning and behavior analytics.

 

 

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October 14, 2015 | SanDisk is opening a new research and development center in Yafia, a predominantly Arab town next to Nazareth. The American flash-storage giant is expected to hire dozens of Arab-Israeli employees from Haifa and Nazareth. SanDisk, which has three other locations in Israel, has also partnered with Nazareth-based outsourcing company Galil Software to encourage Arab participation in the high-tech sector in Israel.

 

 

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October 14, 2015 | American payment systems company Gilbarco has acquired Odysii, the Israeli startup specialized in marketing intelligence. No financial details were disclosed, but Globes estimates that the deal is in the range of $30-40 million. Founded in 2003 by CEO Adi Eyal and VP Technology Yair Goldfinger, the Tel Aviv-based company has developed an analytics and consumer messaging platform at the point of purchase. Goldfinger was one of the founders of ICQ, the world’s first messaging service, which was sold to AOL in 1998 for $400 million.

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October 14, 2015 | Pharma giant Pfizer has invested $10 million in the Israeli bio-medical company Protalix Biotherapeutics in exchange for a six percent share in the Karmiel-based company.
Protalix has also given Pfizer full commercial rights to the Gaucher disease treatment Elelyso in all countries except Brazil in exchange for $36 million cash. Since the companies’ first strategic agreement six years ago, Protalix has replaced its management and changed its business strategy, now lead by new CEO Moshe Manor. The company was founded in 1993 by biochemist Yoseph Shaaltiel, who developed the principle plant-based enzyme used in Elelyso.

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October 13, 2015 | FireLayers, which provides real-time protection for companies’ cloud applications, and Check Point Software Technologies, the giant firewall provider from Israel, today announced their joint Extend Perimeter Security solution, which extends security to cloud applications and provides enterprises with protection from zero-day threats and malware distribution via these apps. With the service, documents downloaded through file-sharing apps will be scanned for and cleaned of any potential malicious behavior, ensuring that the recipient of a document is not met by foul play.

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October 13, 2015 | Israel’s Novocure‘s medical device Optune, which treats adult patients with glioblastoma brain tumors, has just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Optune is a portable, non-invasive device that delivers low-intensity, intermediate frequency, alternating electric fields – referred to as Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) – that inhibit cancer cell replication and cause cancer cell death. Founded in Israel in 2000, the company’s main operations are in the US.

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October 13, 2015 | Israeli Chemicals (ICL) has entered into a partnership with Yunnan Phosphate Chemicals Group. ICL paid $180 million for a 15 percent stake in the Chinese phosphate leader and will be the controlling shareholder in the joint venture. Over the next five years, the two companies will each invest $170 million to build factories and triple their white phosphoric acid (WPA) production capacity. The parties have also agreed to produce and market WPA in China exclusively through the JV within five years.

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October 13, 2015 | The US Navy has purchased Brainsway‘s Deep TMS system to help treat sailors suffering from clinical depression. The helmet-like device transmits magnetic fields specifically to the region of the patient’s brain where depressive symptoms originate. Founded in 2003, the Jerusalem-based company, now led by Guy Ezekiel, aims to treat depression in patients who have not responded to antidepressants.

 

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October 13, 2015 | Cyber security company Cybereason closed its second round of fundraising at $59 million, including a $50 million investment from Japanese telecoms giant Softbank, which will distribute the startup’s security platform in the Japanese market. Earlier this year, the Boston-based company raised $25 million from CRV, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin, which is also a strategic partner of the company. Founded in 2012 by veterans of the Israeli military intelligence unit 8-200, Cybereason offers an automated system that uses big data, behavioral analytics, and machine learning to uncover cyber attacks in real-time.

 

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Six months after Israeli private equity firm FIMI acquired Israeli water irrigation company Rivulis for $60 million, Dhanna Engineering (DEL) will take a 20 percent share of Rivulis for $34 million. The deal reflects a $170 million value for Rivulis, six months after the company, previously part of John Deere Water, was sold to FIMI. DEL is owned by the Firodias, one of India’s wealthiest families.

 

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