February 25, 2015 | Yo!, the messaging service that lets your friends send you ‘Yo’, has expanded its services to allow users to subscribe to photo and link feeds. The goal of the new feature is to reach readers of publication platforms that may not want to download the whole application. Yo will include alerts from publishers like BuzzFeed, the NBA, MTV and TechCrunch. Yo has also added other features, like such current bitcoin value estimates, ProductHunt features, Lonley Planet features, among others. Yo was founded in 2014 by Or Arbel and Moshe Hogeg.
News Briefs
February 25, 2015
Yo! Releases New Features For Sharing Photos, Links
February 25, 2015
Viber Faces Patent Infringements In Korea
February 25, 2015 | According to reports in the “Korea Herald,” Viber, the instant messaging application, may be facing patent infringements in Korea. The news source reports that a Korean court has ruled in favor of SK Telecom’s claim that Viber infringed its patent on reorganizing contact information on smartphones in the application, which was registered in 2006. SK Telecom sued Viber in November. Viber founder Talmon Marco reports to “Tech Crunch” that the company will soon release a longer statement addressing the allegations. If the court rules against Viber, the service could be banned in Korea.
February 25, 2015
IQP Partners With Major Japanese Companies
February 25, 2015 | The Internet of Things (IoT) startup IQP announced that it will partner with three large Japanese companies: Fujitsu, NEC Engineering and KDDI. IQP, a company that develops and executes IoT applications, is currently in the process of raising its first rounds of external funding, and is seeking out partnerships and new customers by expanding to the US. The company recently opened a branch in New York City, with additional plans to set up a branch in Silicon Valley. IQP was founded in 2011 by its CEO Guy Kaplinsky, launching its sales activities last year. IQP is headquartered in Tokyo and has R&D operations near Tel Aviv.
February 25, 2015
Knowmail Raises $1.2M In Seed Funding
February 25, 2015 | The SaaS company Knowmail announced that it raised $1.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by early-stage venture capital firms Plus Ventures, 2B Angels, After Dox and INE Ventures. The company plans to use the new funds to help accelerate its growth by developing its sales and development team. Knowmail’s tools help colleagues communicate and collaborate effectively. Knowmail was founded in 2014 by Oded Avital and Haim Senior.
February 25, 2015
Allot Acquires Optenet For Up To $38M
February 25, 2015 | The broadband solutions provider Allot Communications announced that it would acquire Optenet for up to $38 million. Optenet provides security as a service solutions (SECaaS). Allot will pay $6.5 million in cash, adding $5.5 million over a period of two years. Additional payments of up to $26 million are expected to be made according to future performance markers, one of which includes a $140 million revenue target in five years. Allot hopes that the acquisition will increase revenue for the company by several million dollars in 2015, as well as non-GAAP profits. Allot Communications was founded in 1996 by Michael Shurman and Yigal Jacoby.
February 24, 2015
Unilever Joins Chief Scientist Program
February 24, 2015 | Unilever, the British-Dutch consumer goods company, signed an agreement with Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist to identify startups with technology that could be useful to the multinational company. Unilever is the 41st international company to sign on with the OCS program, and Chief Scientist Avi Hasson met with Unilever R&D chief David Blanchard to sign the agreement. The OCS program hopes to help Israeli startups with relevant technologies for partnered multinational companies to continue to receive funding, both from the OCS and from relevant multinational corporations.
February 24, 2015
Citi Bank Announces $100K FinTech Competitions
February 24, 2015 | The international bank Citi Bank is calling on Israeli developers to take part in a competition to build the most successful fin-tech (financial tech) application. The winner of the competition will be announced in Jerusalem in April and the winners of the prize will be awarded $100,000. In addition, they will receive exclusive access to existing Citi financial technologies, with the potential to become the provider of Citi Bank’s global banking technology. A similar competition will be held in the United States, Kenya, Britain, and Polin, along with Israel. The company will be holding demo days in each of the locations for the contestants.
February 24, 2015
Allenby Concept House To Establish Amsterdam Branch
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ebruary 24, 2015 | The Israeli advertising agency Allenby Concept House has plans to open a new branch in Amsterdam, according to a “Globes” report. The new branch will be a joint effort between Amsterdam ad agency Kwartvoorhalf and the owners of the app ‘I’M IN’ and will operate in Amsterdam under the company name Allenby Amsterdam. Allenby manages projects for companies like Skittles, Golf, SodaStream, G-Star and more. Founded in 2009, Allenby Concept House already has one branch outside of Israel in New York.
February 23, 2015
UberX Begins Ride-Sharing Services In Tel Aviv
February 23, 2015 | The popular black cab ordering service Uber has released its ride-sharing app UberX in Tel Aviv. The service allows users to catch rides with other drivers in the area, paying them a small free for gas. The convenient service has already gained popularity and much press in over 200 cities spread out over 50 countries, including Japan, Germany and Russia, to name a few. Uber began its regular services in Tel Aviv last year.
February 22, 2015
Namogoo Raises $5M
February 22, 2015 | According to a “Calcalist” report, the Israeli website security company Namogoo raised $5 million in a recent funding round. The round was led by Blumberg Capital, 83 North Venture Capital, Inimity VC, Adler-Chomsky and Founders Guild. Namogoo, which means ‘vanished’ in Hebrew, was founded in 2014 by CEO Chemi Katz and company COO Ohad Greenshpan. Namogoo hopes to minimize client-side injected malware on branded websites.
February 22, 2015
Check-Cap Raises $24M Together With IPO
February 22, 2015 | The Israeli creators of diagnostic capsule technology, Check-Cap announced the pricing for its initial public offering. The company raised $12 million at a company value of $92 million, after money, while also closing a private-placement round worth $12 million. The two totals bring funding in the company to $24 million in this round, and a total of $45 million since the company was founded. The private placement round was led by Chinese company Fosun Pharma together with previous investors like GE Healthcare and Pontifax, among others. Check-Cap develops X-Ray capsules for the diagnosis of intestinal cancers and was founded by Yoav Kimchy.
February 22, 2015
NYU-Technion Receive $9M Grant For Cancer Research
February 22, 2015 | NYU Langone Medical Center and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology announced that they received a $9 million gift from Laura and Isaac Perlmutter to fund two, major joint cancer research endeavors. The institutions believe that there is potentially far-reaching impact for the research projects in question to advance cancer research. The first $3 million grant will finance six cancer-focused research projects conducted by researchers at NYU Langone and the Technion. The remaining $6 million will be used to establish a state-of-the-art research facility on Technion’s campus in Israel that will support these and other research projects– and which will have a principal focus on the emerging field of cancer metabolomics. NYU Langone is a world-renowned leader in the investigation and treatment of cancer. The Technion is one of Israel’s leading academic and research centers and a top-ranked science and technology global research university.
February 22, 2015
SolarEdge To Raise $125M In NASDAQ IPO
February 22, 2015 | The Israeli company SolarEdge filed a prospectus the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raised $125 million in an initial public offering on NASDAQ. Though the company value of SolarEdge was not mentioned, but according to the amount the company is looking to raise, it can be assumed that the value of the company is large, in the $500 million range. The offering will be led by Goldman Sacs and Deutsche Bank. SolarEdge, a solar energy optimization company, was founded in 2006 by Guy Sella, CEO and Chairman Lior Handelsman, Yoav Galin, Meir Adest and Amir Fishelov.
February 22, 2015
Lenovo Recalls Superfish Software On Laptops
February 22, 2015 | The international computer manufacturer Lenovo is recalling Israeli image-identifying Superfish software on some of its latest laptops. According to Lenovo, the company will disable the pre-install laptops on relevant computers, which the company believes to be computers that were shipped between September and December of 2014. It is believed that Superfish’s image recognition technology, which, among other things, can be used to search images and provide related image advertising content, is causing unwanted pop-ups on Lenovo computers, a breach that could put personal user data at risk. Superfish was founded in 2006 by Michael Chertok and Adi Pinchas.
February 22, 2015
OurCrowd To Partner With Maryland/Israel Development Center
February 22, 2015 | The equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd plans to extend its reach in the United States through a partnership with the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC), which is a partner of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). OurCrowd plans to look at Maryland-based companies for investment opportunities, while MIDC plans to help OurCrowd expand its portfolio in the US. “We’re excited about the partnership with OurCrowd,” said MIDC Chairman Rob Frier. “It will give Maryland companies access to a potential new funding source and help Israeli companies enter the U.S. market further expanding the Maryland/Israel trade relationship.” OurCrowd was founded in 2012 by Jon Medved.
