News Briefs

September 9, 2015 | The Israeli digital technology company Comverse has officially rebranded with the name Xura. The company will trade on NASDAQ under the MESG ticker. The rebranding will also incur major changes in the company’s structure and is set to affect Xura’s existing Israeli workforce. Xura was founded in 1984 and is based out of Wakefield, Massachusetts.

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September 9, 2015 | The wireless backhaul specialist Ceragon announced that three large North American mobile operators will deploy its IP-20 platform for their 4G network expansion and modernization projects. The customers, Cergaon asserts, are existing ones, though they were not named by the company. “We are extremely pleased to see our North American customers embracing the IP-20 platform in their 4G expansion projects”, said Ira Palti, president and CEO of Ceragon, in a statement. Ceragon was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.

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September 9, 2015 | The Israeli specialty chip manufacturer TowerJazz together with Panasonic has developed radio frequency technology that claims to improve battery life and data rates for 4th Generation phones. The technology claims to reduce power by using radio frequencies, reducing power losses by as much as 30 percent, according to the company. The joint venture between TowerJazz and Panasonic, TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor, is based in Japan and is owned by TowerJazz.

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September 9, 2015 | École Polytechnique in France and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology signed an agreement to promote relations between their accelerator programs. École Polytechnique’s accelerator program called L’X and the Technion’s Startup Launch Program called T-Factor will share contacts with each other, including personnel, potential investors, business connections and more. The participants in each accelerator will also have privileged access to each of the accelerators, providing participants in the Technion accelerator with the chance to spend up to six weeks at L’X, and vice versa. The two partner institutions will also continue to share best practices, knowledge and experience with respect to supporting startup companies.

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September 9, 2015 | Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures in the United States signed a multiyear agreement with Israeli health startup Luminox that will establish an accelerator for Israeli digital health startups. Luminox specializes in connecting early-stage companies with relevant US institutions, corporate bodies and strategic partners. Luminox will partner with John Hopkin’s accelerator FastForward to commercialize products for the US market. Luminox was founded by CEO Yossi Bahagon.

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September 9, 2015 | The US company BioTime announced that it will dual list on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The developer of cell-based therapies has a market cap of $268 million and two Israeli subsidiaries, Cell Cure Neurosciences and LifeMap Sciences. BioTime’s shared are expected to be included on all five of the TASE’s equity indexes. BioTime was founded in 1992 and is based out of Alameda, California.

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September 9, 2015 | The Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam went on a business trip to Israel to explore expanding the relationship between the Tennessee and Israeli business communities. The State of Tennessee hopes to encourage bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two entities, focusing on the fields of high tech, biotech and health care. “This is a great chance to tell the Tennessee story to Israeli businesses large and small. Israel has become known as the start-up nation due to the enormous amount of entrepreneurial activity happening here, and we have formed a lot of relationships that can be mutually beneficial,” Haslam said. Haslam met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres while he was in the country.

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September 9, 2015 | The software discovery platform ironSource was selected as a Global Growth Company by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Companies were nominated on the strength of their ability to become global leaders. “At ironSource, we are both proud and honored to be selected as a Global Growth Company by the WEF, and to join this important community of companies working together for positive change,” Deputy CEO Omer Kaplan said in a statement. ironSource was founded in 2010 and is based in Tel Aviv.

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September 9, 2015 | A number of large communications companies, including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Singtel and Telefonica are partnering to invest in the development of startup companies in the fields of communication and digital innovation. The companies hope to promote startups in these industries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. The partnership will be carried out through startup accelerators and innovative endeavors created by each of the companies: Singtel’s Innov8, Orange’s Fab, hub:raum of Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica’s Open Future. Israel is one of the countries in which these companies will seek out innovations and startups to invest in.

 

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September 9, 2015 | The President and Chief Operating Officer of Pluristem, Yaky Yanay was chosen to be the Co-Chairman of Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI). As part of Israel’s largest organization representing Israel’s high-tech and life sciences industries, Yanay will represent the life science industry alongside his Co-Chairman Erez Tsur, the CEO of EMC Israel. Yanay has been a member of IATI’s board over the past three years. IATI CEO, Karin Mayer Rubinstein commented, “The two incoming IATI Chairmen bring with them expertise and a deep knowledge of the sectors they represent, along with a real willingness to act in favor of the industry.” IATI was established in 2012.

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September 9, 2015 | The US venture capital fund and accelerator 500 Startups announced that it would open an office in Israel. 500 Startups has appointed Adam Benayoun and Diana Moldavsky as its investment partners in Israel. The office will work to support the existing 500 Startups network in Israel as well as to support and fund new companies. 500 Startups was founded in 2010 and is based out of Silicon Valley, California.

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September 9, 2015 | Members of the Welsh government announced that two Israeli companies would invest £3 million ($4.61 million) in the United Kingdom. The investment is set to see the creation of 100 new jobs in South Wales and up to £13 million (approx. $20 million) to be spent with local suppliers. The announcement will bring 30 research and development positions to the Newport-based technology manufacturer SPTS Technologies. The investment was the result of efforts made between the Welsh Government and UK Trade and Investment Israel.

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September 9, 2015 | The former Chief of Staff of the Israeli military Benny Gantz has been named the chairman of a new startup called Fifth Dimension. The startup will be headed by CEO Guy Caspi, the former CEO of Tamares Telecom. Founded about a year ago, the big data startup has been kept a secret, but has reportedly received funding from the US venture capital firm, Columbus Nova. Fifth Dimension’s solution, which has yet to be entirely revealed, analyzes big data using artificial intelligence mechanisms.

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September 7, 2015 | Israel’s Chief Scientist has announced that three groups have won a contract to operate new startup incubators in Northern Israel: HealthO2, which is comprised of medical equipment giant Medtronic, IBM and Israeli VC Pitango; Israeli medical equipment company Trendlines; and a group of investors called Galil Tech Ventures.

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September 7, 2015 | Israeli gaming company Playtika has acquired local competitor Big Blue Parrot for $10-$15 million, according to a Globes report. This is the fifth acquisition by Playtika, which acquired Pacific Interactive last year for $90 million. Big Blue Parrot was founded in Israel in 2009 by Gilad Almog, Gal Weizenberg and Daniel Rechter.

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