News Briefs

March 30, 2015 | Over the past month, smartwatch Pebble Time has raised $20 million on Kickstarter, making it one of the most successful campaigns in the history of this popular crowd-funding platform. The chief designers of Pebble Time – a smartwatch compatible with both Andriod and iOS that has a 7-day battery life – are Israelis Itai Vonshak and Liron Damir.

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March 29, 2015 | Mobile payment technology startup MyCheck has raised $5 million in a private financing round, according to a Calcalist report. The company expects to complete the  round in a few days, and to receive additional investments of $5 million. MyCheck has developed a checkout technology that allows users in restaurants to view and pay their bill via their smartphone. MyCheck was founded in Israel in 2011 by Erez Spatz, Tal Zvi Nathanel and Shlomit Kugler.

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March 29, 2015 | Israeli startup Innovid has raised $10 million in a private financing round led by Cisco Investments. Genesis Partners, Sequoia Capital and T-Venture also participated in this round. Innovid specializes in advanced video advertising, delivering interactive and personalized video experiences across multiple devices. The company was founded in 2007 by Zvika Netter, Tal Chalozin and Zack Zigdon.

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March 29, 2015 | Israeli company SolarEdge has raised $126 million in its initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. SolarEdge, which specializes in the optimization and monitoring of solar energy systems, was founded in 2006 by Guy Sella, Lior Handelsman, Yoav Galin and Meir Adest. The company’s products allow solar panels to act independently of each other, thus increasing overall power production.

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March 29, 2015 | Israeli content marketing startup Outbrain has signed a multi-year deal with sports TV network ESPN. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. ESPN will bring Outbrain’s sponsored content recommendations to its digital audience of roughly 116 million unique visitors a month. Outbrain was founded in 2006 by Ori Lahav and Yaron Galai.

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March 26, 2015 | The second-largest bank in Israel, Bank Leumi, has launched LeumiTech in the US, which will offer financial services to support Israeli high-tech companies operating in the US. Bank Leumi has operated in the US for 55 years. It recently reached a $400 million tax evasion settlement with the IRS.

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March 26, 2015 | Facebook will incorporate Magisto Shot in its messenger. This smartphone application was developed by Israeli company Magisto, which was founded in 2009 by Dr. Oren Boiman and Dr. Alex Rav-Acha. The app enables users to interact with each other on Facebook Messenger using short videos.

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March 26, 2015 | Ben Gurion University researchers discovered a new way to hack air-gapped  computers (which are not connected to the internet). Their method, dubbed “BitWhisper,” enables two-way communications between adjacent, unconnected computers using heat. This new method could potentially help intelligence agencies. The research was conducted at BGU’s Cyber Security Center by Prof. Yuval Elovici and Mordechai Guri.

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March 25, 2015 | Israeli company GreenRoad Technologies has raised $26 million from VC Israel Growth Partners (IGP). Founded in 2006, GreenRoad enables commercial fleets, insurers and consumers to measure, improve and sustain safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior. VC Generation Investment Management, which was founded by Al Gore, is one of the investors in GreenRoad.

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March 25, 2015 | The Walt Disney Company will produce a new animation series in Israel, according to a Calcalist report. The mass media behemoth will reportedly invest $8-$10 million in the television series, and is expected to work with Israeli studio Snowball, which was founded by Eran Barel and Yoni Cohen in 2005.

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March 25, 2015 | Israeli crowd-funding company iAngels has raised $2.25 million in a seed round led by investment firm Millhouse Capital, which is owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. iAngels enables private investments in early-stage startups. It was founded in 2013 by Mor Assia and Shelly Hod Moyal.

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March 25, 2015 | Content marketing startup Keywee has raised $9.1 million in a financing round led by Innovation Endeavors, a VC firm owned by Google chairman Eric Schmidt. The New York Times also participated in this round of financing. Keywee’s solution analyzes content and automatically finds suitable audiences for it. Keywee was founded in Israel in 2013 by Yaniv Makover.

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March 24, 2015 | Israeli mobile security startup Skycure has raised $8 million from Shasta Ventures. The funds will go towards sales and marketing efforts, as well as towards research and development. Skycure was founded in 2012 by Adi Shaharabani and Yair Amit.

 

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March 24, 2015 | US-based AirSage has acquired Israel-based Decell Technologies for an undisclosed amount. Both AirSage and Decell develop technologies that aggregate signaling data from cellular networks to provide real-time speed and travel times for major roads. Headed by CEO Jonathan Silverberg, Decell was founded in 2000.

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March 24, 2015 | Intel Israel’s president Shmuel (Mooly) Eden has resigned after 33 years at the giant chip maker. Eden, who’s a senior vice president for Intel, joined the global semiconductor manufacturer in 1982. In Israel alone, Intel employs nearly 10,000 people, making it one of the largest multinational R&D centers in the country.

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