News Briefs

January 11, 2015 | The Israeli company Lucid‘s PowerXtend technology was chosen by China’s Zopo Mobile to be integrated into the company’s ZP999 mobile phone. According to Lucid, their PowerXtend technology can extend battery life and power usage on mobile phones by optimizing CPU/ GPU computational loads. Lucid’s technology is already used in millions of mobile devices on the market, enhancing the user experience and extending battery life by about 20 percent, according to the company. Lucid is headed by CEO and Chairman Adina Shorr and CTO Elad Dubzinski.

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January 11, 2015 | Reddo Mobility, the company created out of Israeli company Gizmox, announced that it raised $4.25 million in a recent funding round. The company will reportedly use the new funds to launch a channel program that could be of interest to partners that work with VMware, Citrix Systems and Microsoft. Reddo is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, selling a platform that allows enterprises to run their legacy Windows applications on mobile devices and platforms. Reddo was founded in September 2014 following the restructuring of Gizmox, an Israeli company that sold an HTML-5 platform for the mobilization of business applications.

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January 11, 2015 | The Israeli Internet company Wix.com will air an advertisement during the Super Bowl staring some of the biggest players in the National Football League (NFL). According to reports, the advertisement will star five major league football stars during the company’s thirty-second commercial spot. The commercial will feature Brett Farve of the Green Bay Packers, Terrell Owens, Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, Larry Allen, and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Franco Harris. The plot for the Wix commercial follows the retired football stars as they open small businesses that are a humorous play on their personalities and accomplishments. Wix.com was founded in 2006 by Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami and Giora Kaplan as a platform for the simple creation of web and mobile sites.

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January 11, 2015 | The Israeli identity solutions company SuperCom acquired the Israeli company PreVision for $2.5 million. The announcement comes just over a year after SuperCom acquired a unit of Israeli company OTI – On Track Innovations for $10 million. SuperCom will reportedly pay $2.5 million in cash for cyber security company PreVision, which is founded and managed by Guy Karsenti and located in Herzliya, not far from SuperCom’s own offices. SuperCom will use its acquisition of PreVision to offer supplementary security solutions to its clients, which include governments, militaries and large, critical organizations. SuperCom specializes in electronic identification and small passports, as well as M2M, machine-to–machine communications.

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January 11, 2015 | The Israeli company BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics announced positive results from the Phase 2a clinical trial of the company’s NurOwn treatment for ALS. The trial, conducted on 14 patients at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center. achieved its primary endpoint by demonstrating that NurOwn is a safe treatment and well tolerated. In addition, the company reports that all of the subjects in the study received clinical benefit from the NurOwn treatments, with some seeing the slowing of the progression of their condition as well as a decrease in the severity of the condition’s symptoms. BrainStorm works to create viable stem cell treatments for advanced neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

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January 11, 2015 | Out of the 28 ‘Best Innovations’ chosen at the international Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), the Israeli company ZUtA Labs‘ portable robotic printer was one of the presenters to receive the award. At the world’s largest and preeminent technology show, ZUtA Labs showcased its pocket-sized printer that won an CES ‘Best Innovation Award’ in the ‘Computer Peripherals’ category. ZUtA Labs is a small Jerusalem-based startup that raised money in a Kickstarter campaign last year for the development of its mini printer. ZUtA was co-founded by Tuvia Elbaum.

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January 8, 2015 | OurCrowd, the global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors, reported that it raised $100 million for 56 companies in 2014. In addition, each of those companies had an average investment of $1.6 million, and there were six deals that were completed with over $3 million invested. Some of the companies that OurCrowd helped fund this year include ReWalk Robotics, Consumer Physics (the creators of SCiO) and BillGuard, among others. OurCrowd founder Jon Medved was also named CrowdFund Beat’s 2014 Person of the Year.

 

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January 8, 2015 | The Chinese computer technology company Lenovo will reportedly open a research and development center in Israel, according to a “Calcalist” report. Lenovo hopes that through the company’s R&D center, it will be able to reach out to more Israeli companies ripe for acquisition or eager to incorporate their technologies into Lenovo platforms. The company has reportedly named Ornit Shinar, the former head of the Citibank accelerator and representative for Sony in Israel, the head of innovation in Israel and Europe. Lenovo is expected to invest in Israeli companies and startups at varying stages, from seed-stage startups to more developed companies with technologies that can potentially be integrated into Lenovo’s products.

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January 8, 2015 | VocalZoom, an Israeli startup that develops sensors for speech enhancement, received an investment from Motorola Solutions Venture Capital. Information regarding the size of the investment and what it will be used for by the company have yet to be disclosed. Additional investors in VocalZoom’s latest funding round include existing investors 3M and OurCrowd, as well as Japanese company FueTrack. VocalZoom’s optoelectronic microphone is able to enhance a speaker’s voice over background noise, with hopes to aid the hearing impaired and to improve the use of voice commands in existing technologies. VocalZoom was founded in 2010 by CEO Tal Bakish.

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January 8, 2015 | Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed two major cyber-solution contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. According to reports, the deals were signed with major foreign defense customers. IAI’s cyber solutions allow for organizations and governments to monitor intelligence, enhance protection, identification methods and accessibility, unique methods that IAI develops at its own research and development centers. IAI is a government-owned company founded in 1953 Al Schwimmer and former President Shimon Peres.

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January 8, 2015 | The Israeli company developing minimally invasive surgical tools, Medigus, announced that it was awarded a Japanese patent for its miniature camera, the micro ScoutCam. The patent entitled, “Small Diameter Video Camera Heads and Visualization Probes and Medical Devices Containing Them,” went into effect in December 2014 and will be valid until September 2030. Medigus has also filed to register this new patent for approval in the U.S., Europe, South Korea and Israel.

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January 8, 2015 | The Israeli affiliate of Greylock Partners, Greylock IL, has changed its name to 83North and announced a new $200 million fund. The fund focuses its investments on Israeli and Europeans startups and has offices in London and in Herzliya, Israel. The “Wall Street Journal” reports, that some of the partners at Greylock are investors in the 83North fund, though partners told the paper that some “minor financial changes” have been made. Greylock IL was formed as a Greylock Partners affiliate in 2006, a venture capital fund that supports companies like Facebook, Dropbox and LinkedIn.

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January 7, 2015 | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries received US Food & Drug Administration approval for the launch of a generic equivalent to Diovan, a drug used to treat high blood pressure by heart disease patients. Diovan is marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals and saw sales of up to $1.8 million in the US last year. In addition, Teva announced that it will be launching two generic versions of antibiotics in the US.

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January 7, 2015 | Travelfusion, a London-based travel distribution system, was acquired by China’s CTrip for $160 million, sources told TheMarker. CTrip announced earlier in the week that it purchased a controlling stake in Travelfusion, but now sources tell TheMarker that CTrip has actually purchased the entire company for the said total. Travelfusion was founded by Israeli Moshe Rafiah in 1999, but since its founding, the company has been based out of London and Shanghai, working with online travel agencies, travel management systems and self-booking tools across the world.

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January 7, 2015 | EdenShield, an Israeli company developing non-toxic pest control methods, announced that it raised over $1 million in a recent investment round led by OurCrowd. EdenShield has developed a non-toxic pest repellent and insect control methods based on medicinal plants that are natural to Israeli’s semi-arid climate. The product works by masking the odor of the crop to lower insect attraction, leading them to pursue food sources elsewhere. The company plans to use the funds to expand their operations, distribution networks and to hire new staff. EdenShield was founded in 2012 by experienced chemical engineer Yaniv Kitron.

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