July 7, 2015 | According to reports by the IVC Research Center, Israeli startups saw $5.29 billion in exits from 54 deals – 76 percent the total proceeds from exits in all of 2014. The report, which examines the first financial half of 2015, stipulates that the average deal size was $98 million, which is 51 percent more than the average in 2014 and 34 percent more than the 2013 average. In addition, the average for VC-backed exits was $84 million, a 15 percent increase from 2014. The average was spiked by the $1.25 billion acquisition of FundTech by the multinational fintech company D+H.
News Briefs
July 07, 2015
IVC Report: $5.29B In Exits In First Half Of 2015
July 07, 2015
Vaxil Bio And Mayo Clinic To Cooperate On Cancer Immunotherapy Treatments
July 7, 2015 | According to a report in “TheMarker”, Vaxil Biotherapeutics and the Mayo Clinic have signed a cooperation agreement for the next two years. Vaxil, which develops vaccines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, signed the agreement with Prof. Sandra Gendler and Dr. Peter Cohen to integrate Vaxil’s ImMucin treatment together with other immunotherapy treatments being developed at at the Mayo Clinic. The cooperation will be supported by the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic is the largest integrated nonprofit medical practice in the world. Vaxil Biotherapeutics was founded by Lior Carmon and is based out of Ness Ziona, Israel.
July 06, 2015
TAU-IATA Cooperate On Flight Innovation
July 6, 2015 | Tel Aviv University and the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) signed a cooperation agreement for the establishment of a shared body to examine innovation in flight. The main goal of the shared program is to explore innovative security measures and technologies that will keep passengers safe in the air and at the airport. For itself, IATA represents 260 airlines across the world and accounts for 83 percent of air and cargo travel in the skies. IATA is adding its name to the corporate sponsors of the Tel Aviv school, and took part in the recent cybersecurity conference held at Tel Aviv University.
July 06, 2015
Intel Establishes Mentor Program For Startups
July 6, 2015 | Intel announced its Intel Ingenuity Partner Program (Intel IPP), a new initiative to nurture and promote Israeli startups. Intel will provide startups with an expert mentor as well as access to resources within its facilities. Nine Israeli startups have been chosen for the first six-month cycle, including Lexifone and Extreme Reality. The startups will be asked to present a proof-of-concept or demo of their idea at the end of the program. Intel IPP is only the latest addition of programs that engage with the Israeli startup community, following in the footsteps of Intel Capital and the Challenge-Up! accelerator program.
July 06, 2015
Funzing Raises $1.5M
July 6, 2015 | According to a “Calcalist” report, Funzing, a company founded by former Playtech CEO Avigur Zamur, raised $1.5 million. Funzing presents fun and entertaining activities on its platform, seeking out potential participants. The round was reportedly led by a new venture capital firm called Inimiti. Funzing was founded in 2014 by Zamur, Eran Alon, Yaron Sagiv and Noah Muscati.
July 06, 2015
Waze Develops New Carpooling App For Google
July 6, 2015 | According to a “Haaretz” report, Google is set to launch its carpooling project in Israel beginning this week. The project, called RideWith, is reportedly developed by the Waze team. RideWith will be launched in Israel and will be tweaked and changed according to other cities and locations. RideWith plans to link between travelers and drivers on their way to the same location, and drivers are limited to two rides a day to prevent the app from becoming a ride-sharing platform like Uber or Gett. The pilot will be launched in three Israeli cities: Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Raanana. Waze was acquired by Google in 2013 for $1.1 billion.
July 06, 2015
Technion Ranked 31st In Int’l Patents Ranking
July 6, 2015 | The Technion Israel Institute of Technology was rated 31st in the world for the number of patents in a survey conducted by the U.S. Academy of Inventors Index. The Technion received approval for 65 patents in the US in 2014, more than any other Israeli university. Tel Aviv University was ranked 43rd, the Weizmann Institute 52nd and Hebrew University 73rd in the ranking. The list of the National Academy of inventors was founded in the US in 2010.
July 06, 2015
NeuroDerm To Issue $50M Secondary Offering
July 6, 2015 | The creator of drugs for Parkinson’s Disease, NeuroDerm reportedly issued a prospectus to raise $50 million in a second offering on NASDAQ. NeuroDerm held its original IPO in November 2014, in which it raised $45 million at a company value of $169 million, after money. Currently, NeuroDerm has a market cap of $264 million. The secondary offering is being underwritten by Jefferys and Cowen & Co. NeuroDerm was founded in 2003 and is based in Rehovot.
July 06, 2015
Marvell To Lay Off 100 Employees In Israel
July 6, 2015 | Marvell Technologies announced that it will lay off at least 100 employees in its mobile division. The producer of semiconductors, Marvell apparently has plans to move part of its business to China. Though Marvell already has offices in China, it now plans to move its mobile division, based in Israel, to the country due to lower wages and other benefits. Marvell previously laid off workers in Israel in April 2014. Marvell has two development centers in Israel, one in Petach Tikvah and one in Yokne’am.
July 06, 2015
Samsung Establishes Israeli Accelerator Program
July 6, 2015 | The international technology giant Samsung will found a startup accelerator within its Israeli development center in Yakum Park. The accelerator, called ‘Runway’, will be headed by Yossi Smoler, who is the head of the Open Innovation Group at Samsung’s Israeli R&D Center and the former director of the incubators program in the Office of the Chief Scientist. Six to ten startups will be part of the first round in the accelerator, with Samsung targeting early-stage companies. The accelerator program is set to open by the end of this year.
July 05, 2015
BIU Tasked With EU Int’l Crime Project
July 5, 2015 | Bar Ilan University will head a European Union project to help fight international crime. BIU‘s Department of Computer Science together with the Department of Criminology will lead a project funded by the European Commission to develop a mixed reality gaming platform that will be able to provide training opportunities for interrogators. The program, Mixed-reality environment for training teams in joint investigative interrogation-Intelligent interrogation training simulator (LAW-TRAIN), began in Israel in June.
July 05, 2015
Report: MST Raises $12.5M
July 5, 2015 | According to “Geektime”, the Israeli company developing tools for laparoscopic surgeries Medical Surgery Technologies (MST) announced that it raised $12.5 million in Series C funding. The round was led by Chinese medical device firm Haisco Pharmaceutical Group. Other investors include SCP Jacobs Investment Company, AGATE, TriVentures, Vitalife and OurCrowd. MST was founded in 2005 by Ziv Tamir and Moti Sholev and is based out of Yoqneam, Israel.
July 05, 2015
Report: PayPal To Hire 50 Employees For Israel R&D Centers
July 5, 2015 | According to a report in “TheMarker”, PayPal plans to hire 50 additional employees at its Israeli research and development centers. PayPal has had an R&D center in Tel Aviv since 2008 when it acquired the Israeli company Fraud Science. Since, the Israeli R&D center has researched fraudulent activities on PayPal for the international company. Recently, PayPal acquired CyActive for $60 million, which brought the company to establish another R&D center in Beer Sheva.
July 05, 2015
Bank Hapoalim, Leumi Initiate Cloud Computing Tech
July 5, 2015 | Two major Israeli banks Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi announced that they plan to use cloud computing technology, subject to some restrictions. Bank Leumi plans to use cloud computing technology, notably Salesforces’ cloud computing solutions, to transfer some of its customer data. Bank Hapoalim plans to use cloud computing technology for two projects, one of which also includes moving customer data onto the cloud. Both banks hope that initiating cloud computing will help them cut down on costs and make their services more efficient.
July 05, 2015
EFI Acquires Matan Digital Printers For $50M
July 5, 2015 | The Israeli company Matan Digital Printers was acquired for $50 million by the US company Electronics for Imaging. Matan develops super-wide format printers for signs, banners, billboards and more. Matan was founded in 1992 by Efi Arazi and is headquartered in Rosh HaAyin, Israel.
