December 15, 2014 | Benny Landa through his nano-printing venture Landa Digital Printing has plans to recruit new employees in Israel and to begin supplying its printers starting in 2015. According to a “Globes” report, after raising €100 million ($156.6 million) six months ago from the German group Altana, Landa Digital hopes to release their new nano printers, which they assert facilitates better printing quality and efficiency. As Landa told “Globes,” “In the next year, we’ll hire sales and marketing personnel, and we’re already hiring more engineering and production employees,” Landa says. “Today, we have over 200 employees, and we’ll hire dozens more.” Landa Digital Printing was founded by Benny Landa in 2002 and operates under the umbrella of the Landa Group.
News Briefs
Landa Digital Printing To Recruit Employees, Launch In 2015
Israeli Architect Eli Attia To Sue Google Over Construction Invention
December 15, 2014 | The Israeli architect Eli Attia and Max Sound filed a law suit with the Superior Court of California against Google and its co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Charges are also being filed against Flux Factory, a group of senior Google executives. According to the law suit, Google stole Attia’s invention, a technology that shortens and makes cheaper the design and construction process for large, high-rise buildings. Google estimates that the potential annual worth of the invention is $120 billion. Eli Attia is one of the leading high-rise building designers in the world, designing prominent buildings in the US and the Azrieli Towers in Israel.
Silicom Acquires Danish Company Fiberblaze
December 15, 2014 | The Israeli networking company Silicom acquired the Danish network appliances company Fiberblaze. According to the deal, Silicom will pay Fiberblaze’s stockholders about $10 million in cash, subject to the achievement of certain milestones. Fiberblaze provides high performance application acceleration tools for mobile, telecommunications, network monitoring, cybersecurity, financial management and other industries. Silicom is headed by company CEO and President Shaike Orbach.
One Hour Translation Expands In US, Hires New Employees
December 15, 2014 | The Israeli online translation company One Hour Translation announced that it will hire 80 employees, 30 in Israel, 30 in the company offices in the US and 20 more in Europe. The company is looking to hire development personnel, salespeople, as well as support and customer service representatives. In Israel, the company seeks out fluent speakers of highly-spoken languages such as German, French and Spanish. One Hour Translation is expanding its operations in the US, with newly established branches in Washington D.C. and Palo Alto, California. One Hour Translation was founded in 2008 by Yaron Kaufman, Ofer Shoshan, Lior Libman and Oren Yagev.
Ormat Technologies To List On TASE
December 15, 2014 | The Israeli company Ormat Technologies is expected to register to begin trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange after it completes the merger with Ormat Industries. Ormat Industries is already registered on the TASE, but now Ormat Technologies will also be traded, separately, after the merger. The company reports to hope that the company will be listed on the Tel Aviv 25 Index. Ormat Technologies currently has a market cap of $1.2 billion, but it doesn’t have plans to raise capital in the current offering. Ormat was founded in 1965 by Chairman and CTO Lucien Bronicki and CEO Yehudit Bronicki.
Bella Telecom Partners With Universal Phone Company
December 15, 2014 | The Tel Aviv telecommunications company Bella Telecom formed a new partnership with the South African licensed operator Universal Phone Company. The partnership will give Bella access to Sub-Saharan African markets, helping the company grow its footprint on the African continent. Bella Telecom, owned by Dan Muszkat and Inbal Vakshi, provides international wholesale long distance services to small and large carriers the world over through its global VoIP Network. Bella was founded in 2010.
Viber Releases Viber Games Feature
December 15, 2014 | The messaging and video application Viber announced the launch of Viber Games today, a platform designed specially for Viber users. Viber Games will offer exclusive Viber content and characters and is currently available in Malaysia, Belarus, Israel, Singapore and the Ukraine, released to the rest of the world in a staggered release. Some of the games featured during the Viber Games launch include ‘Viber Candy Mania,’ ‘Viber Pop’ and ‘Wild Luck Casino,’ designed by Israeli gaming firm Playtika. Viber was founded by Talmon Marco, Igor Megzinik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha and was acquired by Rakuten for $900 million in February, 2014.
BioLight To Launch Cancer Diagnosis Products In India
December 15, 2014 | The Israeli biomedical company BioLight Lifesciences reportedly plans to launch its cancer diagnosis products in India within the next couple of months. “We will be happier to shift our focus from the US, to sell our products to India designated in particular to cervical cancer as we see a huge potential in the Indian market. This is mainly because of the increase in the number of deaths of many women in India due to cervical cancer than in the US,” says Suzana Nahum Zilberberg, CEO of BioLight. India has seen a spike in recent years in cervical cancer among women, becoming the largest cancer killer among women. BioLight is a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Allflex Acquires SCR For $250M
December 15, 2014 | Allflex Group, a leader in animal identification systems, acquired SCR for $250 million. Founded in 1976, SCR is a Petah Tikvah-based company specializing in the manufacture and marketing of advanced monitoring systems for livestock. Allflex acquired 100 percent of SCR’s shares from Tene Investment Funds, a private equity fund, as well as the company’s founders Meir Rabinovich, Eyal Brayer, Dani Cohen and Avi Mor.
Helmsley Charitable Trust Invests $11.3M In Israeli Institutions
December 14, 2014 | The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, based in the United States, announced that it will donate up to $11.3 million to three Israeli institutions and eight organizations responsible for organizing trips to Israel. The grants will be directed at agricultural research, medical research and infrastructure, as well as educational trips designed to promote Israel’s international standing. Among the institutions receiving grants from the Trust include: Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center, the Center for Agriculture in Arid Lands, and the Organ Transplant Center at Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikvah. The Helmsley Charitable Trust has donated over $140 million to charitable organizations and institutions since 2009.
PlayBuzz Most Shared Website On Facebook In Nov. 2014
December 11, 2014 | According to the site “Newswhip,” PlayBuzz was the most shared website on Facebook in November 2014, beating out “The Huffington Post” and “BuzzFeed.” PlayBuzz’s content received 8.7 million shares on Facebook, in comparison to 8 million for “Huff Post” and 7.4 million for “BuzzFeed.” Founded just a year ago, PlayBuzz has quickly gained in popularity in terms of content websites, beating out big-name news sources like the “BBC,” “The Guardian,” among others. PlayBuzz was founded by Shaul Olmert, Yaron Buznach, and Tom Pachys as a platform for organizations, companies and users to create viral content, quizzes, lists and more.
Ron Gura Leaves eBay Innovation Center For Aleph Ventures
December 11, 2014 | The manager of eBay’s Innovation Center in Tel Aviv, Ron Gura, will leave his position to become the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Aleph Ventures. Gura will be replacing Eran Shir in the position at Aleph. Gura is also the co-founder of a startup called The Gifts Project, one of the first Israeli companies to build a product with brand thinking. Aleph Ventures was founded by Michael Eisenberg and Eden Shocat, and is supported by celebrity Ashton Kutcher.
MyHeritage Releases New Feature For Easy Genealogy Searches
December 11, 2014 | MyHeritage, the Israeli-founded genealogy website, announced the release of a new feature called ‘Instant Discovery,’ which hopes to make genealogy searchers easier and more intuitive. Instead of filling in a long family profile, all that users have to do is enter the names of a few family members and the service will present them with a person who is likely to be their ancestor, in addition to further information on family. If MyHeritage guesses your family member correctly, from there it is possible to build a virtual family tree in just a number of clicks. MyHeritage was founded in 2003 by Gilad Japhet.
Tahal Begins $67M Project For Water Facility In Russia
December 11, 2014 | The global engineering and construction group, Tahal, controlled by the Kardan Group, signed an agreement for the design and construction of a water treatment facility in Russia. The project is worth $67 million and will be constructed in the Russian city of Yakutsk. The project will be under the complete responsibility of Tahal until completion, which is set to take about 40 months. Tahal was founded in 1952 by the Government of Israel to design the National Water Carrier, which supplies water to the entire country.
Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport Rated World’s Ninth Best Aiport
December 11, 2014 | Israel’s only international airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, located outside Tel Aviv, was ranked among the world’s best airports by “Conde Nast Traveler.” The airports on the list were rated according to comfort, dining, ease of travel and security. Israel’s BGA most certainty received high marks in the security category, with the airport touted as one of the safest in the world. BGA was rated in ninth place, with Singapore’s Changi Aiport rated first, followed by Hong Kong and Dubai.
