March 10, 2015 | The 3D printing company Stratasys revealed its Objet260 Dental Selection 3D Printer this week at the International Dental Show in Germany. The 3D printer is considered a breakthrough in the industry, creating accurate 3D dental models and increasing the profitability and productivity of dentistry and orthodontist offices. Stratasys is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, merging with the Israeli 3D printing company Objet in 2012.
News Briefs
March 10, 2015
Stratasys Reveals 3D Dental Model Printer
March 10, 2015
Unitronics To Build Largest Automated Parking Lot In N America
March 10, 2015 | The global provider of industrial automation products and parking solutions, Unitronics Systems will build the largest automated parking lot in North America in the Canadian city of Calgary. Through its subsidiary, Unitronics Systems will receive $24 million for the completion of the project that is set to provide 1,400 parking spaces at one of the world’s leading hotel chains. As of yet, the two companies have signed a binding letter of intent, but it is believed that implementation of the deal will begin this year. Unitronics was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Lod, Israel.
March 10, 2015
USAID Grants $789K To Hebrew U
March 10, 2015 | The Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment was awarded a $789,000 grant from the US Agency for International Development. The grant will reportedly enable the establishment of a Unit of Correlative Microscopy at the Rehovot campus, which will allow for the study of the tissue and cell makeup of crops. The USAID program granted $400,000 to the Hebrew University in 2013 for its phytotron-controlled greenhouse.
March 10, 2015
Lingua.ly Raises $1M In New Funding
March 10, 2015 | The Israeli company Lingua.ly announced that it raised $1 million in its second funding round, according to “GeekTime.” The funds are added to the $800,000 raised by the company in its initial funding round. Udi Netzer, Shai Refaeli, Yochy Investments and Seed Fund 1776 participated in the round. Lingua.ly has developed a platform that allows users to practice and learn new languages through existing content and it currently support 10 languages. Lingua.ly was founded by Dr. Orly Fuhrman and Dr. Jan Ihmels in 2011.
March 10, 2015
goFlow Available For 10 More Sports, Raises Seed Round
March 10, 2015 | The weather-driven sports app goFlow announced that it will now feature crowdsourced data on conditions for 10 new sports. The new sports that will be featured on the app include: surfing, skiing and snowboarding, paddleboarding, fishing, diving, cycling, kitesurfing, boating, golfing and skateboarding. In addition, the company announced that it raised a seed round from angel investors Shalev Hulio, Omri Lavie, Daniel Recanati and Mehrdad Piroozram. goFlow was founded by Roni Eshel and professional surfer Ian Walsh in 2012.
March 10, 2015
HoneyBook Raises $22M In Series B Funds
March 10, 2015 | The event-planning platform HoneyBook closed a $22 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners together with Aleph and Hillsven. According to the company, the funds will be used to scale its collaborative platform and to up availability in US cities. The latest funding round brings total funding in the company to $32 million since the company was founded in 2013 by four Israeli friends, CEO Oz Alon, Naama Alon, CTO Dror Shimoni and Shadiah Sigala. HoneyBook is a platform that connects a number of event professionals to make planning an event a more seamless experience.
March 10, 2015
Spacecom To Raise $50M In Debt Financing
March 10, 2015 | The Israeli company Spacecom Satellite Communications will raise $50 million in debt financing in order to complete its Amos 6 satellite project by 2016. Spacecom is the provider of satellite communications services through its Amos satellites. The Amos 6 satellite, which is expected to be released in February-March 2016, will replace the Amos 2 satellite that will go out of service in the same year. Spacecom was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Ramat Gan, Israel.
March 10, 2015
Netafim Signs $500M Bank Financing Deal
March 10, 2015 | The Israeli drip irrigation company Netafim signed a major bank financing deal in order to receive $500 million over five years. According to the company, the financing will be used to expand the company’s marketing activities. Netafim has about 13 factories worldwide and operates in 150 countries through 37 different subsidiaries. Netafim was founded by Simcha Blass in 1965 at Kibbutz Hatzerim.
March 10, 2015
BIRAD Partners With EVE In Next-Gen Electric Vehicle
March 10, 2015 | The technology transfer company Bar Ilan University Research and Development Company (BIRAD) formed a partnership with Electric Vehicle Evolution, a developer of next-generation electric vehicles based in the US. According to Bar Ilan University, the goal of the partnership is to integrate the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) developed by Bar Ilan Professor Eli Kolberg in EVE’s electric cars. The technology, which was originally developed in soccer robots, will assist drivers in keeping their distance from cars in their proximity in an attempt to reduce traffic accidents. According to EVE founder and CEO Adam Tannenbaum, “Just like you see ants working together along the floor as a team, such will be the case among automobiles in our autonomous future. EVE believes that connected vehicles V2V is the future of transportation.”
March 09, 2015
Attunity Acquires Appfluent For $18M
March 9, 2015 | The Israeli company Attunity signed a definitive agreement to acquire Appfluent Technology, a leading provider of data usage based in the US. Attunity, an information availability software solutions provider, will reportedly pay $18 million in cash and stocks for Appfluent, with additional payments excepted following the completion of milestones. Attunity was founded in 1988 and is headed by Chairman and CEO Shimon Alon.
March 09, 2015
BioLineRx Raises $25M In NASDAQ IPO
March 9, 2015 | The Israeli drug development company BioLineRx reported that it raised $25 million in a NASDAQ public offering. The offering was set at $2 per American Depository Share. BioLineRx also reports positive interim results on a trial of its blood cancer drug, as well as other developments with some of its leading medical products for the treatment of skin lesions and for heart attack damage. BioLineRX was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Jerusalem.
March 09, 2015
Gilat Satellite Wins $286M Peruvian Contract
March 9, 2015 | The Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks won a $286 million contract in Peru to set up telecommunications networks in rural areas. Gilat has signed a contract with Fitel and it is the company’s largest contract to date. Gilat was founded in 1987 by Amiram Levinberg, Joshua Levinberg and Yoel Gat.
March 09, 2015
Israeli, German Researchers Receive $1.73M Grant
March 9, 2015 | A joint research project looking at quantum phenomena at Ben Gurion University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany received €1.6 million ($1.73 million) in support. The funds were granted to Israeli researcher Ron Folman and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler by the German-Israeli Project Cooperation (DIP) program, a joint venture of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The team hopes to use the funds to develop technologies that will bridge the gaps between atomic-systems and solid-state systems.
March 09, 2015
Infocomm To Invest Up To $200M In Israeli Startups
March 9 , 2015 | Infocomm Investments, a fund backed by the government of Singapore, plans to invest up to $200 million in Israeli startups. According to Alex Lin, the head of Infocomm Investments, which is part of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, stated that his company is currently in negotiations with several Israeli companies. Infocomm has never made a direct investment in an Israeli company before, but did contribute to the Vertex venture capital fund that invested in the Israeli crowdsourced navigation application Waze. “Our interest is to build up financial technology in Asia and capitalize on the financial boom in Singapore and Shanghai,” Lin reported to Reuters.
March 09, 2015
Timocco To Open Headquarters In Akron, Ohio
March 9, 2015 | Timocco, an Israeli-founded company that develops software to teach motor skills to disabled and autistic children, announced that it will open its headquarters in the city of Akron, Ohio. According to the announcement, five Timocco sales executives to Akron’s global business accelerator, with the option to add five more employees in the next year. In addition, the company is reportedly in talks with Akron’s Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals’ Rainbow Babies, among others. Timocco was founded in 2009 by Sarit Tresser.
