December 23, 2014 | The multinational technology company Intel has promised to spend at least $550 million in Israel within the next five years. Intel signed a commitment to upgrade its Israeli-based factories and research and design outlets, injecting $6 billion to up the manufacture of its chips. The deal was officially announced on Sunday after Intel and the Ministry of the Economy’s Industrial Cooperation Authority officiated the deal. In return, Israel will receive two $300 million grants spread over a period of five years. The company has also agreed to hire at least 1,000 new employees in Israel, at least half of them being residents of communities in Southern Israel. Intel currently employees nearly 10,000 Israelis at its outfits in Israel, entering the Israeli market early on.
News Briefs
Intel Commits To Spend $550M In Israel Over Five-Year Period
Cyber Security Co. Indegy Raises $6M From Shlomo Kramer
December 22, 2014 | The early-stage cyber security startup Indegy raised $6 million in a recent funding round, led by information security sector leader Shlomo Kramer. Magma Venture Partners also participated in the funding round for the young startup. Indegy was founded last July by Barak Pearlman, Ido Trivitzsky and Milo Gendelsman, all graduates of the Israeli Defense Force’s elite Talpiot Program. Amihai Shulman, CTO at Imperva also participated in the funding round. Indegy has developed a platform that protects critical data servers from the threat of a cyber attack.
‘Globes’ Report: Qoros CEO Fired From Company
December 22, 2014 | The Israel Corporation‘s joint venture with the Chinese automaker Chery, Qoros, is currently undergoing structural changes due to poor sales performance, according to reports. “Globes” reports that a news outlet called “Chinese Business News” reported that Qoros will fire its chairman and CEO Guo Qian, who will be replaced by Chery deputy president and Jaguar Land Rover board chairman Chen Anning, together with Shi Qingren, according to internal documents. The document also reportedly details that marketing and sale director Wei Sifan will be leaving the company. Israel Corporation has invested nearly $600 million in Qoros, $122 million in 2014 alone. Qoros, established in 2007, has yet to see the sale of its vehicles take off, leading to serious losses for Israel Corporation.
Israeli Team Wins FIRST Tech Robotics Challenge
December 22, 2014 | At the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition, a group of Israeli high school students from the southern city of Yeruham took first place. The team, which calls itself the ‘Y Team,’ consists of 30 students from Yeruham Sci-Tech, was represented at the competition in Chicago by two students and a mentor. The competitors were asked to construct an 18-inch by 18-inch robot that can pick up whiffle balls and place them in pipes of varying heights. The robot also had to move completely autonomously for 30 seconds, after which the team could control its movements. This was the first time that an Israeli team participated in the competition.
Yaskawa Israel Opens Robotics Visitor’s Center
December 21, 2014 | The Japanese manufacturer of robots and motor-powered devices, Yaskawa Electric, recently opened a visitors’ center at its Israeli factory where it plans to give manufacturers free workshops in order to promote its technologies. After investing $17 million in Dr. Amit Gofer’s highly successful venture, the ReWalk exoskeleton for paraplegics, Yaskawa also seeks out further investment and cooperation opportunities with native Israeli startups. At the visitors’ center, it is possible to see the Yaskawa robots in action, even providing the opportunity to program the robots as you wish. There are currently about one thousand Yaskawa robots in Israel. Yaskawa is a Japanese robotics company founded in 1915 by Keiichiro Yasukawa.
Report: Stimatix Acquired By German Company For $10-15M
December 21, 2014 | According to a “Calcalist” report, the Israeli medical device company Stimatix was acquired for $10-15 million by a German medical device company. Stimatix develops medical products to aid patients with intestinal blockage or Crohn’s Disease. Last year, Stimatix received US Food & Drug Administration approval for the distribution of their products, reaching primary profits in the millions of dollars. Stimatix was founded in 2009 by Shai Greenburg and Meir Or.
RedHill Biopharma Signs License Agreement With U Minnesota
December 21, 2014 | Israeli bio-pharmaceutical company RedHill BioPharma entered into a license agreement with the University of Minnesota to acquire rights to a patented technology to support the development of a commercial diagnostic test for the detection of MAP bacteria. Following the news, the company’s share price rose 9 percent following the news. According to RedHill’s Crohn’s disease program, RHB-104, which is currently undergoing its first Phase III study in the US, Canada and Israel, is based on the hypothesis that the disease is caused by a MAP infection in susceptible patients. Currently, there is no currently validated, commercially available method for the detection of the presence or absence of MAP in patients suffering from Crohn’s Disease and other diseases. RedHill BioPharma was founded in 2009 and focuses on the development and acquisition of late clinical-stage proprietary drugs for the treatment of inflammatory and gastrointestinal diseases, including gastrointestinal cancers.
Teva Nabs FDA Approval For Childhood Allergy Nasal Spray
December 21, 2014 | The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the 40 mcg version of Teva Pharmaceutical Industry‘s QNASL spray. The QNASL spray has been approved for the treatment of nasal symptoms associated with allergic rhinitis, or allergies that include symptoms of hay fever, in children aged 4-11. QNASL 40 mcg is a lower dose than the QNASL Nasal Aerosol, 80 mcg, for adults and adolescents age 12 and over, approved by the FDA in 2012. The QNASL 40 mcg version will reportedly be available by prescription by February 2015. “The approval of QNASL for use in children aged 4-11 is an important advancement for an often difficult-to-treat patient group,” said Dr. Todd Mahr, MD, Director of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was founded in 1901 and since has become one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Israel Chemicals Sells Rhenoflex To Shift Focus
December 21, 2014 | The Israel Chemical‘s Performance Products segment has decided to sell the German-based footwear business Rhenoflex. The sale is part of the company’s “Next Step Forward” strategy, led by company president and CEO Stefan Borgas, in which it will focus on agriculture, food and engineered materials. Rhenoflex provides high-end shoe enforcement materials and orthopedic parts to leading brands in the global footwear industry. Though the exact financial details of the sale have yet to be released, it is believed that Rhenoflex sold for tens of millions of dollars. Israel Chemicals was founded in 1968 and is a multi-national manufacturer of fertilizers, metals and other special purpose chemical products.
Lockheed Martin To Join CyberSpark Initiative
December 21, 2014 | Lockheed Martin, the American aerospace, defense and security company that recently opened a subsidiary in Tel Aviv, will join several companies to form an Israeli-based cyber research organization. Lockheed will team up with EMC, Jerusalem Venture Partners and BGN Technologies to form the CyberSpark Industry Initiative, or “a nonprofit organization established to enhance government-private sector collaboration in Israel and the wider international technology community through its cyber center, based at the Advanced Technologies Park, Be’er Sheva,” according to Lockheed. The nonprofit, CyberSpark, will work with the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli government agencies and universities. The company hopes to capitalize on the surge of cyber security companies moving into the southern city of Be’er Sheva to improve their cyber security edge.
Report: Alibaba Reps Visit Israel To Seek Startup Opportunities
December 21, 2014 | After holding the largest IPO, the Chinese e-commerce retailer Alibaba is turning to Israel for technologies that will help further their platform. According to a “Globes” report, Alibaba representatives visited Israel last week to meet with a number of e-commerce, Internet and mobile startups. One of the startups that Alibaba representatives reportedly met with was Visualead, the QR Code generator that already operates in the Chinese market. In addition to meeting with Israeli startups, representatives from Alibaba also met with Israel’s Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett, presenting the local high-tech market to them. Alibaba has been one of the wildest success stories of the year, with the Internet company raising money at a company value of $184 billion.
Guy Hoffman’s TED Talk Named In Top 20 Of 2014
December 21, 2014 | The global set of conferences covering topics of ‘Technology, Education and Design,’ also known as ‘TED Talks‘ has rated its top talks for the year of 2014. One of the talks named on the list was Israeli robotics expert Guy Hoffman’s “Robots with soul” talk that examined unusual robots. Hoffman is the co-director of the Innovation Media Lab at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, researching the ‘humanity’ of robots, or how they think, act, move, feel and interact with humans. Hoffman and his team were responsible for construction of the first human-robot theater piece as well as the first human-robot jazz duet. Hoffman’s work as been named on of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year and he has been named one of Israel’s most promising researchers under 40.
Israel Growth Partners Invests $25M In E-Commerce Diamond Co. R2Net
December 21, 2014 | R2Net, also known as James Allen, announced that it secured $25 million in growth funding from Israel Growth Partners (IGP). R2Net is one of the two largest diamond and bridal jewelry e-commerce platforms in the United States and hopes to use the funds to continue its rapid growth. As part of their growth strategy, R2Net recently acquired the operations of Segoma, an innovative provider of advanced diamond imaging technology and Brio Animation Solution, a visualization and augmented reality studio. The company hopes to use the funds to additionally enhance their e-commerce brand JamesAllen.com, which has recently launched a store-to-store joint venture with American department store Sears. Israel Growth Partners was founded in 2014 as a private equity investment firm by Moshe Lichtman and Haim Shani.
GetTaxi Releases Child Safety Seat Option In Israel
December 18, 2014 | The taxi ordering service GetTaxi announced that it will introduce child safety seats in a number of its cabs in Israel. According to the company, the option for a child safety seat can be selected by the user when ordering a cab throughout Israel and to Ben Gurion airport. GetTaxi has purchase 300 child safety seats for its drivers, which can be stored in the drivers truck and installed when requested. There will be a fee NIS 5.20 for the installation of the child seat, designed for kids aged 2-8 and meet the safety standards in Israel. GetTaxi was founded by Shahar Wiser and Roi More in 2009.
Sagi Raises $156M At $1.2B Valuation For Camden Markets On London’s AIM
December 18, 2014 | Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi successfully completed his fourth IPO in London, raising £100 million ($156 million) for Camden Market at a company value of £750 million ($1.2 billion). The company that ran the IPO is Sagi’s latest, called MarketTech, and it was the biggest IPO on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) this year. Sagi already has plans to move MarketTech to the main London Stock Exchange within a year, where his online gaming platform Playtech is already trading. Sagi acquired Camden Market Holdings in March of this year for £400 million, paying an additional £70-90 million to purchase the adjacent Camden Lock and Buck Street markets. Sagi has further plans to invest £300 million in the development of the market by the end of 2018.
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