May 13, 2o15 | The therapy startup Talkspace announced that it raised $9.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Spark Capital together with SoftBank. Talkspace is powered by IBM’s Watson, a platform that uses semantic analysis to determine things about users’ personalities. Talkspace was founded by Israelis Oren and Roni Frank in 2012.
News Briefs
May 13, 2015
Talkspace Raises $9.5M In Series A Funding
May 13, 2015
WeWork Partners With Chase
May 13, 2015 | The shared office space company WeWork has announced that it will partner with Chase to offer members discounted rates and premium services. Chase will offer the services over their platform Paymentech, which is currently used to power services like Apple Pay and Square. According to a TechCrunch report, JP Morgan Chase invested in WeWork in its Series C and D rounds, which is where the idea for cooperation between the companies came about. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey.
May 13, 2015
Perrigo Acquires Pantheon Mexico For $34M
May 13, 2015 | The manufacturer of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals Perrigo announced that it will acquire the Mexican operations of Pantheon for a total of $34 million. Perrigo is an Irish company with offices in Israel.
May 13, 2015
BioLight Completes $6.6M Private Placement
May 13, 2015 | BioLight Life Sciences, a firm that invests in, manages and commercializes biomedical innovations in ophthalmology and cancer diagnostics, announced that it completed an upsized private placement of $6.6 million. The private placement took place as part of a strategic partnership with Rock-One International Holdings. BioLight announced the strategic partnership on April 2, 2015 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.
May 13, 2015
MyECheck Acquires Seergate For $3M
May 13, 2015 | The Israeli cloud platform for billing and payments Seergate was acquired by online and mobile payments company MyECheck. MyECheck acquired 100 percent of Seergate’s shares for approximately $3 million. The Seergate system is already integrated in MyECheck’s payment platforms, adding new international payment features. Seergate was founded in 2007 by Alicia Roisman Ismach and Eldad Aharoni.
May 13, 2015
Wix Releases New Commercial Starring Heidi Klum
May 13, 2015 | The Israel Internet company Wix.com announced that it has paired up with supermodel Heidi Klum and actor Rex Lee in its new advertising campaign. The ads, which will begin to grace television screens on May 14th (tomorrow). The ad showcases how business owners can easily and beautifully create a professional web presence. Wix was founded in 2006 by Nadav Abrahami, Avishai Abrahami and Giora Kaplan.
May 12, 2015
Israeli Tech Execs Found Eucalyptus Growth Ventures
May 12, 2015 | Former tech execs in Israel, Dani Perlmutter, Rami Hadar and Tamir Fishman, have partnered up to establish a late-stage venture capital investment firm, Eucalyptus Growth Capital. The firm will help late-stage Israeli companies reach out to investors, initiate IPOs, reach an international audience, with a focus on companies with experienced management teams. The firm will also provide a leading advisory board to companies including members like Paul Otellini of Intel and Google, Atik Raza, Irwin Federman and Eyal Waldman of Mellanox, among others.
May 12, 2015
Verizon Acquires AOL For $4.4B
May 12, 2015 | Verizon Wireless announced Tuesday (today) that it will acquire the Internet company AOL for $4.4 billion. According to reports, the transaction, priced at $50 per share, will be completed this summer and will make AOL a fully-owned subsidiary of Verizon. AOL has an accelerator in Tel Aviv called Nautilus, which it launched just last year.
May 12, 2015
EMC To Expand Haifa Office
May 12, 2015 | The international cloud computing, big data and information security company EMC is set to hire 50 more employees at its Haifa research and development center. The company plans to have 120 employees at its R&D center that was established in late 2013. EMC has invested millions in the new R&D center, along with other R&D centers in Israel and employs thousands in the country: in Petach Tikvah, Galil Yam, Herzliya, Haifa and Beer Sheva. EMC began its activity in Israel in 1996, establishing its first R&D centers in the country in 2006.
May 12, 2015
Report: Danny Yamin Appointed Global Microsoft VP
May 12, 2015 | According to a report in “TheMarker”, the head of Microsoft Israel Danny Yamin has been appointed to a VP position in the global Microsoft enterprise. As a result, Yamin will leave his position at the head of Microsoft Israel, a position he has held for 10 years. A replacement for Yamin has yet to be found.
May 12, 2015
Safra Donates $30M To Neuroscience Center
May 12, 2015 | The Hebrew University announced that it received $30 million for the second stage of development of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC). The ELSC is an innovative center for the application of diverse neuroscience approaches that would bring together the world’s leading researchers in the field. The $30 million donation brings total donations by the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation to $50 million, with a $20 million donation initially made.
May 12, 2015
Report: Infosys To Expand Israel Operations
May 12, 2015 | According to a “Globes” report, the Indian information technology company Infosys will expand its operations in Israel. This past February, Infosys acquired the Israeli software management company Panaya for approx. $200 million, moving its research and development center to the city of Raanana. Infosys is India’s second largest software exporter, with a $500 million innovation fund.
May 12, 2015
BiondVax Raises $10M In Offering
May 12, 2015 | The Israeli creators of the universal flu vaccine, BiondVax Pharmaceuticals raised $10 million in its offering on Tuesday (today). The company issued its American Depository Shares (ADS) at $5.01 a piece. BiondVax was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Nes Ziona.
May 12, 2015
BreezoMeter Honored At White House Ceremony
May 12, 2015 | The Israeli app that can track air pollution, BreezoMeter was honored at the White House on Monday for their technological contribution that improves the human condition. The ceremony at the White House will honor entrepreneurs from the United States who have tackled some of the country’s most challenging issues, including climate change and air pollution. BreezoMeter was founded in 2014 by Emil Fisher, Ziv Lautman, Ran Korber and Revital Hendler.
May 12, 2015
Ehud Barak Joins FST Biometrics’ Board
May 12, 2015 | Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will join the board of FST Biometrics. In addition, the company that specializes in biometric identification technology, announced that it raised $15 million from GMF Capital led by Gary Fegel. According to reports, Barak will serve as GMF’s representative on FST Biometrics’ board of directors. FST Biometrics has raised $20 million since it was founded in 2007 by Aharon Zeevi Faraksh.
