October 22, 2014 | Therapix Biosciences announced that the company has selected a new CEO, Jan Turek. According to the company, the new CEO will be responsible for growing the company, seeing to the acquisition and investment in cannabinoid-focused companies and technologies. According to Therapix Chairman Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz, “Jan will play an integral role in executing our new strategy, and we are thrilled that he has agreed to join our team as CEO. He has an impressive track record spanning more than three decades, and I am confident that the company is optimally positioned to emerge as a leader in this exciting therapeutic area.” Therapix is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on synthetic cannabinoid-based therapies.
News Briefs
October 22, 2014
Therapix Biosciences Names New CEO
October 21, 2014
AutoAgronom Selected In Top 26 Of MassChallenge Class Of 2014
October 21, 2014 | MassChallenge, the world’s largest startup accelerator, announced the top 26 startups from its 2014 class, with Israeli clean tech startup AutoAgronom placing among them. In the coming weeks, the 26 startups will pitch their startup to a panel of judges who will decide which startups will share $1 million of equity-free cash. The winning startups will be announced at the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony to take place on October 29 in Boston, Massachusetts. AutoArgonom, the Israeli startup that was selected, hopes to increase agriculture yields by providing savings of up to 50 to 70 percent on fertilizers and ‘listening’ to growth roots.
October 21, 2014
IonMed Receives CE Mark Clearance For Bioweld1™ Tech
October 21, 2014 | IonMed announced that it has received CE Mark clearance for its Bioweld1™ cold plasma system for surgical incision closure. Bioweld1 is the first system in the emerging field of plasma medicine that was designed for use in operating rooms as a viable alternative to surgical staples, sutures and sealants. “With the CE Mark clearance of Bioweld1, our first system, we have achieved important validation for our technology, a key milestone for the company, and a significant step towards commercialization,” said Shai Levanon, CEO of IonMed. IonMed is based in Yokneam, Israel and develops and commercializes non-thermal plasma technology to enhance surgical wound closure and healing.
October 21, 2014
Xplenty Raises $3M In Series A Funding
October 21, 2014 | The Israel big data processing company Xplenty announced that it raised $3 million in Series A funding from Waarde Capital and existing seed investor, Magma Venture Partners. Xplenty will reportedly use the investments to expand its platform’s features and to continue its global growth. Xplenty also announced that it will offer its big data processing technology directly to customers in the United States. Xplenty was founded by CEO Yaniv Mor and CTO Saggi Neumann and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
October 21, 2014
Tmura Reaches $10M In Charitable Funds From Startups
October 21, 2014 | The Israeli Public Service Venture Fund, Tmura, announced that it reached $10 million in funds raised for non-profit causes and charities from startup donors. Tmura was founded by Vertias Venture Partners founding partner Yadin Kaufmann as a platform for startups to donate to charities and non-profits in ways that the most comfortable for them. Tmura asks startups to gift them with equity in their companies, amounting to anywhere from 0.5 to 1 percent of the company’s early stage value, allowing Tmura to liquidate shares following an exit or IPO. The funds go towards non-profits or charities throughout Israel, mainly those that seek to said the Israeli youth.
October 21, 2014
ONDiGo CRM Tools Startup Launched At TechCrunch’s Disrupt Europe
October 21, 2014 | A new Israeli-founded startup called ONDiGo launched on Monday at the TechCrunch Disrupt Europe Event. The company is a mobile CRM tools provider, which has been in stealth and beta modes for some time. In addition, the company launched ONDiGo for Salesforce, an application that integrates all of the information collected on the mobile phone back to Salesforce’s systems automatically. ONDiGo was created by CEO Yoni Dariel, Ohad Oren and CTO Nir Keren to provide automated customer relationship management tools to small business owners and sales people on the go.
October 21, 2014
Brainsway Signs Marketing Agreement With French Co.
October 21, 2014 | The Israeli company Brainsway has reportedly signed a marketing agreement with a French company for its Deep TMS System in France. Brainsway’s Deep TMS (Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) system is a treatment for depression and other brain disorders that has been approved by the FDA in the United States for the treatment of severe depression. According to the agreement, Brainsway will deal directly with customers recruited by the French company, while paying the latter company a commission for every new customer. In addition, Brainsway announced that BlueCross BlueShield will begin to reimburse patients for Brainsway treatments in the US states of Flordia, Kansas and Missouri, and that Tufts will do so in Massachusetts.
October 21, 2014
VLX Ventures To Collborate With Telefonica
October 21, 2014 | The international telecommunications company Telefonica will work together with VLX Ventures technology incubator jointly owned by Van Leer Ventures and Xenia Venture Capital. As part of the cooperation agreement, Telefonica will examine the VLX incubator’s projects in the digital communications sector, investing up to $1 million in promising projects. The collaboration will focus on video, cloud computing, big data, Internet of things and future communications. Telefonica was founded in 1924 in Spain and has been active in Israel since 2010.
October 21, 2014
Israel, Jordan And Switzerland Cooperate In Leshimaniasis Study
October 21, 2014 | In a new project initiated by Israeli research company Pharmaseed, Israeli, Jordanian and Swiss researchers will work together to find a treatment for leshimaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic skin disease also known as “Jericho buttons” that is transmitted by sand flies and is common in the Middle East. Four partners have already been recruited for the project: the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and Pharmaseed, which will coordinate the project and will be responsible for safety tests, and the Jordan University of Science and Technology. Pharmaseed was founded in 2003 and is Israel’s largest GLP-certified pre-clinical CRO specializing in pre-clincial studies.
October 20, 2014
BluePhoenix Merges With Ateras In Share Deal To Form Modern Systems
October 20, 2014 | Software conversion company BluePhoenix Solutions, headquartered in Israel, will merge with Ateras Sophisticated Business Systems in a share deal to form Modern Systems. According to the deal, BluePhoenix will issue 6.2 million shares at a value of $22.7 million, a value that constitutes a third of its capital, to Ateras shareholders in exchange for Ateras’ entire capital. Reports found that the two companies had an aggregate of $14.3 million in revenue in 2013. BluePhoenix, founded in 1987 and formerly controlled by Formula Systems, has a NASDAQ market cap of $42 million and is set to downsize its Israeli office following the merger.
October 20, 2014
PolyPid Set To File For $23M IPO On NASDAQ
October 20, 2014 | The orthopedic drug developer PolyPid published an open draft prospective for raising $23 million in a NASDAQ public offering. While no company value was listed, it is believed that the company will be valued at about $100 million, after money. The offering will be led by Aegis with MLV and Chardan Capital acting as secondary underwriters and is set to take place next month. PolyPid’s primary shareholder is the Xenia incubator and has raised $12.7 million to date. PolyPid has developed an implant that releases drugs into the bones, with applications in the dental and medical sectors, which is set to begin clinical trials in the US and Europe in 2015.
October 20, 2014
Asus PadFone X Contains Ceva Component
October 20, 2014 | The semiconductor and chip company Ceva produced a component in the new Asus hybrid smartphone-tablet. Just last week, Asus announced the release of the PadFone X, a new device that will be sold in the United States by communications provider AT&T for approximately $200. Intel’s communications chip and Ceva’s digital signals processor are two of the major technologies in the new PadFone X. Ceva currently trades on NASDAQ at a market cap of $281 million. Ceva was founded in 2002 when the licensing division of DSP Group merged with Parthus Technologies. The company is headquartered in California, but its main R&D center is located in Herzliya, Israel.
October 20, 2014
Radware Signs Multi-Million Dollar Cyber Security Contract
October 20, 2014 | Radware, the Israeli company specializing in directing Internet traffic loads, announced that it signed a multi-million dollar contract with a US financial services company. According to the contract, Radware will provide protection against cyber attacks by spotting and preventing attacks in real time without human intervention and without disrupting Internet traffic. VP of Security Solutions stated of the deal, “Financial entities are in the forefront of the cyber attacks, and high quality identification and reduction of such attacks in real time is critical.” Radware was founded as a provider of application delivery and security solutions for virtual and cloud data centers in 1997 and is headed by CEO Roy Zisapel.
October 20, 2014
Check-Cap Raises $12M From Fosun Pharma
October 20, 2014 | Israeli pharmaceutical technology company Check-Cap raised $12 million in a private placement round led by Chinese company Fosun Pharma. Previous investors also participated in the round, including GE Healthcare, Docor, Pontifax, the Counterpoint Fund, MNS and others. The current financing round is a line of credit from which Check-Cap can pull a total of $12 million. In addition, according to “Globes,” Check-Cap recently renewed consideration its NASDAQ public offering. Check Cap is developing a pill that conducts an X-Ray scan on intestines in order to detect colon cancer. Check-Cap was founded in 2005 by company CTO Dr. Yoav Kimchy.
October 19, 2014
California Israel Chamber Of Commerce Holds First Annual Int’l Business Summit
October 19, 2014 | The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) together with the Israeli Economic Mission to the West Coast and other governmental bodies announced the first annual California Israel International Business Summit. At the conference, the topics of exciting trends in cyber security, big data, cloud, the Internet of Things. mobile and new media will be discussed. The summit will be held on October 22, 2014 in Mountain View, California. The conference will feature panel discussions, keynote speakers, 26 up-and-coming Israeli companies and a review of the industry’s biggest trends. “We are particularly excited to bring together so many technology leaders, dynamic entrepreneurs, industry experts, and investors from Brazil, Canada, India, Israel, South Korea, the United States, and other countries onsite to share their expertise and explore potential collaboration with presenting companies,” said Talia Cohen, Executive Director of The California Israel Chamber of Commerce.
