News Briefs

November 11, 2014 | According to a report in “Calcalist,” one of Israel’s long-standing high tech companies Retalix will fire 200 employees, on top of the 100 fired this past summer. The company, acquired by the American information systems solutions provider NCR two years ago for about $800 million, fired 100 employees this last summer. Now the company will downsize to nearly 800 employees in its Israel office, downsizing in all sectors and on an immediate basis. Retalix develops, licenses, implements and supports software applications for wholesalers and retailers, founded in 1982.

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November 11, 2014 | The Israeli agricultural technology company Adama Agricultural Solutions announced that it plans its New York Stock Exchange offering for the first half of 2015. The company plans to raise between $376-423 million at a company value of $2.9 billion. This is up from the $300 million it potentially hoped to raise when filing with the SEC in August. According to company leadership, including CEO Chen Lichtenstein, Adama will use the company to acquire Chinese companies from its parent company ChemChina, as well as for other purposes. The underwriters for the offering are Goldman Sachs and Bank of America-Meryl Lynch. Adama is a global provider of crop protection solutions, founder in 1945.

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November 10, 2014 | The Technion Israel Institute of Technology took the gold medal at this year’s international iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. The Technion students created ‘Safie,’ a device that detects allergenic and harmful elements in food and water. The device is able to detect elements such as gluten, toxins, nuts, mercury and more, even when they are present in minimal concentrations. Using genetically engineered E coli bacteria, the toxins and other elements light up green when they are present in the food or beverage. The Technion team previously won the gold at iGEM in 2012 for their ‘Trojan Horse’ method of drug delivery.

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November 10, 2014 | According to a “Globes” report, the vaccination company SciGen, controlled by Opko Health, will seek out a merger into a shock exchange shell. The company reportedly hopes to maintain its $100 million valuation despite the move, which was initiated Opko Health founder and chairman Phillip Frost. SciGen, which is based in Rehovot, Israel, develops a vaccination for hepatitis B for developing countries, but now the company is looking to bring its products to Europe and the US. The vaccination was originally produced by Israeli company BTG that transferred into Singapore-based SciGen after BTG was liquidated.

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November 10, 2014 | The international soccer agents Pini Zahavi will partner with Apply Advanced Mobile Technologies in a venture to create a new smartphone keyboard. Apply, a mobile performance company controlled by Noam Lanir, and WhiteSmoke announced that Zahavi will be a partner in the new venture to create a smartphone keyboard under the company name of Kibo Mobile-Tech. According to the reports, Zahavi will own 15 percent of Kibo and Apply and WhiteSmoke will own the rest, in equal shares of 42.5 percent. The announcement also stated that Kibo Mobile-Tech “will develop a branded keyboard application in various languages for sports clubs and brands to offer their fans.” Apply is a publicly traded company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

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November 9, 2014 | The 3D printing company Stratasys reported impressive growth in the third financial quarter of 2014, with total revenue at $203.6 million. This is a 35 percent organic increase in revenue compared to the corresponding quarter last year and a 62 percent spike in revenue from acquisitions. Stratasys acquired companies during the third quarter of this year, Solid Concepts, Harvest Technologies and GrabCAD. Stratasys is a world leader in the 3D printing sector headquartered in Revhovot, Israel.

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November 9, 2014 | Perrigo, and international pharmaceutical company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, acquired Belgian Omega Pharma for $4.5 billion. Perrigo is one of the world’s largest private labels for the manufacture and sale of over-the-counter drugs and Omega is a specialist, selling over 2,000 different kinds of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals to chains and drug stores worldwide. The announcement came as Perrigo reported positive fourth financial quarter results, with $952 million in revenue. Perrigo acquired Agis Industries, an Israeli-based generic pharmaceutical company, in 2005 for $850 million.

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November 9, 2014 | Despite reports by the Chinese media that Israel Corporation plans to quit their joint car venture Qoros, the company’s controlling shareholder denied the rumors. According to a report published by the “Wall Street Journal,” Israel Corp.’s controlling shareholder, Idan Ofer reiterated the Israeli company’s support for the joint venture. Israel Corp. has invested over $600 million in Qoros to date, almost double the amount that the company invested in failed Israeli electric car venture Better Place.

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November 9, 2014 | The Israeli-created scheduling application Meekan announced that it received $870,000 in seed funding. $750,000 of the amount was raised from Li Ka Shing’s Horizons Ventures, with the remaining $120,000 raised from private investors. According to the company, the funds will go towards developing a portfolio of products based on Meekan’s patent-pending technology, expanding the company’s R&D arm and workforce. Meekan was founded in 2013 by the father-son duo Lior and Eyal Yavor and is based on the company’s scheduling and optimization technology, as well as the Flexible Time algorithm.

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November 9, 2014 | The payments solutions company SafeCharge will provide its services to JoyFun, a leading Hong Kong games developer. JoyFun is responsible for the marketing of popular games like ‘Unlimited Ninja,’ and will use SafeCharges services to allow its users to make payments without interruptions or delays. In addition, SafeCharge will identify fraudulent activity as well as provide JoyFun’s global community with a variety of payment methods. SafeCharge was founded in 2007, is publicly listed on London’s AIM Stock Exchange and has operations in UK, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Israel, Germany and Austria.

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November 9, 2014 | A subsidiary of Founder Group, one of China’s biggest companies, Founder Technologies, will open up a subsidiary in Israel, according to reports. In documents filed by the company with local regulatory authorities, it was outlined that the company will found a company in Israel called FounderTech (Israel) Limited. The company will officially belong to Shanghai Founder Technology and will concentrate on providing smart city solutions. According to the company, the staff will be hired locally, reaching out to local Israeli startups to develop their technology and seek out solutions.

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November 9, 2014 | Israel’s Industrial Center for Research and Development (MATIMOP), sponsored by the Chief Scientist, and Space Florida have issued a Joint Call for Projects that will fund research and development projects by companies in both states. Last year, the State of Israel and Space Florida established an annual program for R&D in aerospace projects that will benefit both states, with a budget of $2 million. Israeli and Florida-based companies will be asked to present cooperative proposals for projects that will benefit both states. Israel has a number of joint research initiatives with countries like the UK, India and Italy, just to name a few.

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November 6, 2014 | Prof. Zvi Bentwich of Ben Gurion University in the Negev received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for his projects in Africa. Receiving the “Grand Challenges in Global Health” grant from the respectable foundation, Bentwich will continue to fund his project to wipe out parasitic worm infections in Ethiopia. Bentwich and his team plan to eradicate the disease by providing education on appropriate hygiene, allowing local students to engage in the education of hygiene standards and by providing clean water and sanitation facilities. Their approach will be tested on a specific region in Ethiopia on 30 different schools, treating families with anti-parasitic drugs and educating them on the importance of hygiene. Bentwich is a member of the Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics and head of the Center for Emerging Diseases, Tropical Diseases and AIDS (CEMTA).

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November 6, 2014 | Former Israeli President Shimon Peres will travel to India in an effort to boost trade and foster a food and water technology project between the two countries. Israel Radio reported that Peres will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his three-day visit on the prospects of improving economic relations between India and Israel. In addition, Peres will participate in the launch of a joint Israeli, Indian and Australian project for technological research and development in the agriculture and water sectors.

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November 6, 2014 | Germany’s largest television network ProSiebenSat.1 Group will hold a competition next month in Tel Aviv for Israeli startups and entrepreneurs. The winner of the contest will receive $4 million worth advertisements on the Group’s television channels and digital media outlets. ProSiebenSat.1 Group, formerly owned Israeli Haim Saban, is seeking out B2C companies developing end-user products in Internet and mobile, focusing on entertainment, video, music, games, education, dating, tourism and more. The event will be sponsored by the company’s venture capital arm, SevenVentures. ProSiebenSat.1 Group was founded in 2000 as a German mass media company.

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