News Briefs

October 28, 2014 | The bitcoin manufacturing firm Spondoolies-Tech raised $5 million from new and existing investors in the Series B funding round. Agile Wings, BRM Group and Genesis Partners participated in the round, as well as angel investors Olivier Janssens and Aleph Partner Eden Shochat. Company CEO Guy Corem stated that Spondoolies hopes to use the funds to fund its third, fourth and fifth-generation ASIC development in competing with its main rival, BitFury. Spondoolies is an Israeli bit coin manufacturing company that raised its first round of venture capital in August 2013, putting the total amount invested in the company at $11 million.

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October 28, 2014 | The Israeli company CNoga Medical, developing a non-invasive diagnosis method for diabetes, completed a $12.5 million financing round from Chinese investment fund GoCapital. CNoga’s device uses the patient’s skin color to diagnose high blood pressure and a method for measuring blood sugar without puncturing the skin. Currently, CNoga’s blood pressure measuring device has received market approval in the US and Europe, and the diabetes product only in Europe. CNoga was founded in 2004 by Dr. Yosef Segman, the founder of OPlus Technologies that sold to Intel in 2005, and in 2007 signed a cooperation agreement with Texas Instruments.

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October 27, 2014 | Nearly 100 employees of the gambling games company Playwise were informed that the company they work for will close. The notice was issued by the controlling company of Philippine origin, AsianLogic, the fifth largest such company in Asia which employs over 1,200 individuals. Playwise was founded in 2012 by Yossi Ganot and Oded Gil as the research and development arm of the Philippine gaming company AsianLogic. Yossi Ganot sold his share in the company nearly a year ago.

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October 27, 2014 | Israel’s Bar Ilan University will award its highest honor, Award of Distinction, to Pope Francis at the Vatican. The Award of Distinction will be presented to the Pope by Bar Ilan University President Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz in recognition of his commitment and efforts to promote peace among nations, and for defending and fights for human rights. The presentation of the award to Pope Francis will mark the opening of a year of festivities in celebration of Bar Ilan’s 60th anniversary.

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October 27, 2014 | Clal Biotechnology‘s unit CureTech sold its commercialization rights for its cancer treatment pidilizumab to the US company Medivation. According to the agreement, Medivation will be responsible for development, regulatory and commercial activities for pidilizumab. CureTech will receive an upfront payment of $5 million from Medivation, with potential milestone payments of up to $85 million, and royalties of up to $245 million on global sales. “Immuno-oncology is a significant area of interest for researchers in the development of anti-cancer therapies, marked by its potential to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight disease. Licensing rights to pidilizumab under this agreement marks an important step in our strategy to further diversify our portfolio,” said Medivation President and CEO Dr. David Hung.

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October 27, 2014 | Japanese water treatment chemicals company Kurita Water Industries has purchased Israel Chemicals’ Performance Products segment’s aluminum, paper and water (APW) business units in Germany. The Japanese company has purchased ICL’s units in Ludwigshafen and Dusseldorf, as well as other venues in Europe and China. According to reports, Kurita will pay up to €250 million (approx. $400 million) and the deal will be completed by the end of 2014. APW business units produce active ingredients, formulations, and customized water treatment solutions for use by industries and municipalities.

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October 27, 2014 | According to the IVC Research Center, in the third financial quarter of 2014, 170 Israeli high tech companies attracted $701 million. This is an improvement by 6 percent on the $661 raised in Q3/2013, but down 24 percent from the $928 million raised in the previous quarter. In addition, the rates this quarter were 29 percent higher than the $545 million average of the last three years. According to IVC’s reports, companies raised an average of $4.12 million in third quarter financing rounds. In the first three quarters of 2014, 504 Israeli high tech companies raised $2.3 billion, 50 percent more than the $1.5 billion raised in the same quarters in 2013. IVC is the online provider of data and analysis on Israel’s high tech, venture capital and private equity industries.

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October 27, 2014 | As part of a technology and economic cooperation agreement between the Government of California and the State of Israel, the entities will share knowledge on drought management. Prof. Elion Adar, the director of Ben-Gurion University‘s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, will visit California to share technology and experience on working with drought and scarce water resources. Prof. Adar will tour the East Bay water facilities with representatives from California to shed light on the treatment of water resources. “With a similar climate, California is poised to benefit greatly from Prof. Adar and researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) as we plan for ways to better manage water, particularly in times of severe drought,” said California Natural Resources Agency Secretary John Laird.

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October 26, 2014 | The active pen creator for tablets and other smart devices, N-trig has issued a draft prospectus for offering its shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The current offering is set to be for a total of $80 million, of which the company will try to raise $20 million. This is a lower amount than was previously anticipated, with the company speaking earlier of raising up to $30 million at a $120 million valuation. N-trig is the producer of DuoSense, integrated pen and touch technology, founded in 1999. The company is currently headquartered in Israel with customer service locations in the North America, Taiwan, Japan and China.

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October 26, 2014 | The US real estate firm Moinian Group will consider a $500 million bond issue on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, according to “Globes.” Representatives for the company recently held meetings with potential underwriters in Israel, examining possibilities for the offering. Moinian, controlled by Joseph Moinian, was established in 1982 and is one of the largest private real estate groups in New York. The company’s profile contains 16 commercial buildings, 10 residential apartment buildings and five hotels, covering an aggregate 20 million square meters.

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October 26, 2014 | India has chosen to buy the Israeli Spike guided anti-missile tank from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, despite pressure from the US. According to defense sources in India, the country’s armed forces will buy over 8,000 missiles and 300 launchers for approximately $525 million. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems declined to comment on the sale. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems was founded in 1948 as the Science Corps in Israel.

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October 26, 2014 | A UK company Simdean Envirotec will employ Israeli company Environmental Systems & Treatment’s (EST) plasma-based chemical waste elimination technology. According to Simdean Envirotec, a manufacturer of technical solutions for odor control and waste elimination problems, EST’s solution offers an environmentally and financially better alternative to landfill and trash incineration. Simdean Envirotec will act as the exclusive UK agents for EST’s plasma-based solution that completely disintegrates waste molecules while reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and cutting costs.

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October 26, 2014 | Israeli Dr. Eli Harari, the founder and retired chairman and CEO of SanDisk, will be honored with the 2014 National Medal of Technology and Innovation in the United States. This is the US’s highest honor recognizing achievement and leadership of individuals in the advancement of science and technology. According to President Barak Obama upon selecting the winners of the medal, “These scholars and innovators have expanded our understanding of the world, made invaluable contributions to their fields, and helped improve countless lives.” SanDisk is a global leader in flash storage solutions and flash memory is set to become the most widely used memory technology in the next decade, according to the company.

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October 26, 2014 | In the latest funding round closed by Israel venture capital firm Carmel Ventures, Chinese tech giants Baidu and Qihoo 360 committed funds. While Carmel Ventures has not disclosed how much each of the Chinese tech companies invested, a representative from Baidu confirmed that the company had participated in the funding round to a Tech in Asia reporter. Due to the large amount of commitments received for Carmel Ventures’ Funding Round IV, which total $194 million, it is possible that the Chinese tech firms’ investment was minimal. Baidu is an internet services corporation founding in 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, and Qihoo 360 is an antivirus software company founded in 2005 by Hongyi Zhou and Xiangdong Qi.

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October 23, 2014 | The US-based Helmsley Charitable Trust announced that it will issure more than $9.6 million in grants to Israeli institutions. Since the Trust began awarding grants to Israeli institutions in 2009, over $131.8 million has been committed to a wide range of charitable organizations. The Trust will grant $1.5 million to the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, $2.236 million to the Hebrew University, $5.736 million to the Weizmann Institute and $191,000 to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The Helmsley Charitable Trust was established in 2008 and has donated over $1 billion to charitable organizations all over the world.

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