August 5, 2015 | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced that it would acquire 51 percent of Immuneering Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Immuneering Corp is a genomic analysis company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts using breakthrough technology to discover hidden signs and gain biological insights from genetic, genomic and proteomic data. Teva and Immuneering have worked together in the past several years to make progress in research on biomarkers, gene expression signatures and other cutting-edge diagnostic tools. Teva was founded in 1901 by Chaim Salomon, Moshe Levin and Yitschak Elstein.
News Briefs
August 05, 2015
Teva Acquires 51 Percent Of Immuneering Corp.
August 05, 2015
Consumer Physics Named ‘Technology Pioneer’
August 5, 2015 | Consumer Physics, the company that creates a pocket-sized spectrometer called SCiO, was awarded one of the World Economic Forum’s “technology pioneers”. Together with 49 other companies, SCiO was selected for its innovative work in creating the world’s first pocket-sized molecular sensor. SCiO was awarded the distinction within the Life Science/ Heath section, together with a number of Israeli companies like EIMindA, EpiBone and others. Consumer Physics was founded in 2011 by Dror Sharon.
August 05, 2015
Intec Pharma Raises $27M In NASDAQ IPO
August 5, 2015 | The Israeli delayed release pharmaceuticals company Intec Pharma announced that it raised $27 million at a share price on $6 per share. The company raised the funds on NASDAQ at a company value of $60.6 million. Intec Pharma has developed an Accordion Pill, or medication that settles the stomach to slowly release drugs in the intestinal tract. Intec Pharma was founded in 2000 and is based in Jerusalem.
August 05, 2015
Taboola Signs Exclusive Agreement With Gannett
August 5, 2015 | Taboola, the content recommendation platform, announced that it signed an exclusive, three-year strategic partnership with Gannett, the parent company of USA Today. The deal is estimated as a worth of $55 million with Taboola’s content integration platform to be integrated into Gannett’s vast network of publishing channels. Taboola has signed similar exclusive agreements with other content companies like Bloomberg, NBC News, the McClatchy Company and Reader’s Digest. Taboola, which was founded in 2007 by Adam Singolda, has raised $100 million at a company valuation of $700 million.
August 05, 2015
Six Startup Open Finalists Selected
August 5, 2015 | Six finalists have been selected in the national Startup Open competition in Israel. The six finalists, which include: Frank Mobile App, Guide In Medical, Inner Eye, Lishtot, PlayClay and SmartLogic, will compete against each other in the final competition to be held on September 7th in Jerusalem. The winning company will be selected by an audience of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, managers and government representatives. The winner will become part of the list of the World’s Top 50 Most Promising Startups, also known as the GEW50.
August 04, 2015
IEIC Opens Pop-Up Store For Israeli Designers In Hong Kong
August 4, 2015 | The Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute announced that it will open a pop-up store for Israeli designers in Hong Kong in late October. The pop-up store will showcase 20 Israeli product designs to potential buyers in East Asia, featuring diamond and jewelry retailers as well as other consumer goods. “This is a new initiative to promote young Israeli designers to the wider world and build the Israel brand name in the global design marketplace,” said Elad Goz head of the Economic & Trade Mission at the Israeli consulate in Hong Kong.
August 04, 2015
Three Israeli Cos. Compete In Kaspersky Lab Competition
August 4, 2015 | The international Internet Security company Kaspersky Lab announced that three Israeli startups will compete in the final stages of the Kaspersky Lab Security Startup Challenge next week. The competition is part of the company’s attempt to identify “cyber-stars” in the industry. The three Israeli startups, Re-Sec Technologies, Cyber DriveWare and Security in Motion will compete against eight other startups from the US, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, and Norway. The final competition will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the companies competing for $80,000 in prizes. Kaspersky Lab opened an office in Israel in 2013.
August 04, 2015
Report: Zend Technologies To Be Acquired
August 4, 2015 | The Israeli infrastructure software company Zend Technologies is set to be acquired by an international software company for tens of millions of dollars, according to a “Calcalist” report. This is a welcomed acquisition for a company that was valued at $63 million four years ago, and $95 million nine years ago. The details of the deal still remain unclear. Zend Technologies was founded in 1999 by Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski.
August 03, 2015
AxiomSL Establishes Office In Jerusalem
August 3, 2015 | The developer of software for the global financial services industry AxiomSL announced that it will open an office in Jerusalem. As part of the terms of opening the office, AxiomSL has committed to hiring orthodox Jewish workers at the office. The company will start out with 10 employees and hopes to expand to 50 employees within the next year. AxiomSL is headquartered in New York and was founded in 1991.
August 03, 2015
Blackberry To Acquire AtHoc
August 3, 2015 | Blackberry Mobile Communications announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AtHoc. While the terms of the transaction have yet to be disclosed, AtHoc’s secure communications network is set to go towards Blackberry’s line of secure mobile options. The transaction is set to be completed in Blackberry’s 2016 third fiscal quarter. AtHoc was founded in 2005 by Ly Tran, Aviv Siegel and Guy Miasnik.
August 03, 2015
Splacer Wins $250K In Qualcomm’s QPrize
August 3, 2015 | Splacer, the event space renting platform, was selected by Qualcomm as the Israeli winner of the company’s QPrize. Splacer will now compete against seven other international companies for the grand QPrize, which entails a funding round for the winner. As part of their initial win in Israel, Splacer received a prize of $250,000. Splacer recently raised $1.4 million in seed funding. Splacer was founded in 2014 by Lihi Gerstner and Adi Biran.
August 03, 2015
Exalenz Receives FDA Approval
August 3, 2015 | Exalenz, the Israeli company that develops devices for detecting gastrointestinal and liver conditions, announced that it received FDA approval in a joint clinical trial with Galectin Therapeutics. Exalenz’s product, the BreathID, will be used in a second-stage clinical trial for an experimental treatment for fatty liver disease. Exalenz is headed by CEO Raffi Werner.
August 03, 2015
Foamix Receives Approval For Rosacea Drug
August 3, 2015 | Foamix Pharmaceuticals received approval for its product that treats Rosacea. The development license for the product was granted to Bayer, the international pharmaceutical company that carried out the clinical trials and registered Foamix’s product for marketing. As part of the deal with Bayer, Foamix will receive payments which its estimates will reach a value of $10 million in total. Foamix is the developer of foam-based drugs and was founded in 2003 by Dov Tamarkin.
August 03, 2015
MEDX Raises $30M For Israeli Biomed Startups
August 3, 2015 | The biomedical investment fund MEDX Ventures Group announced that it raised a round of $30 million. The funds will be put towards seed and pre-seed investments in Israeli biomedical firms, with a special focus on medical device companies. The funds were raised mainly from private investors in the US and Europe. MEDX was founded in 2010 by Harel Gadot, who is also the CEO and chairman of the firm.
August 03, 2015
Battery Ventures Acquires NICE’s PSBU
August 3, 2015 | NICE Systems signed an agreement to sell its Physical Security Business Unit (PSBU) to the technology investment firm Battery Ventures. According to the terms of the deal, PSBU will be made into a stand-alone unit continuing with its video management and analytics product. The current general manager of the unit, Moti Shabtai, will become the group president of PSBU and Battery Ventures expert-in-residence Adam Markin will serve as the chairman of the company. The newly created company will be headquartered in New Jersey with offices in London, Singapore and an R&D center in Israel.
