October 13, 2014 | The Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi has reportedly purchased another part of London’s Camden Markets for approx. £70-90 million ($112.6-144.7 million). With the acquisition Sagi will now own the two largest sections of Camden Market, also known as the Camden Lock Market. Sagi will purchase the market from the Fulford family’s Brockton Capital Fund, bringing the total amount of land he owns to 12.5 acres. The total value of Sagi’s projection after construction is set to reach £1.7 billion. London’s Camden Market is the original arts and crafts market in the City of Westminster since 1972, containing shops, market stalls and a variety of food and entertainment venues.
News Briefs
October 13, 2014
Teddy Sagi Purchases Another Section In London’s Camden Market
October 13, 2014
Avisar Paz Appointed CEO Of Israel Corp.
October 13, 2014 | The board of the Israel Corporation, Israel’s largest holding company, announced that CFO Avisar Paz will be appointed to the position of CEO, taking Nir Gilad’s place. Paz will be replaced in the position of CFO by Natan Yalovsky. Gilad has been the chief executive officer of Israel Corp. for the past eight years, a period characterized by a notable drop in the company’s value, following the failure of electric car venture Better Place. Now, Gilad will assume a role in the international business of Israel Corp. and remain the chairman of Israel Chemicals, Israel Corps. main source of dividends and subsidiary. Israel Corp. has begun to take measures to found a spin-off company called Kenon, which will be traded on the NYSE together with Israel Chemicals.
October 12, 2014
American And Swiss Scientists Awarded Israel’s Alternative Energy Prize
October 12, 2014 | The Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation was awarded to a Swiss and an American scientist. Prof. Thomas Meyer of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Prof. Michael Grätzel of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Meyer and Grätzel were awarded the annual grant-giving prize for their research into developing cheap and efficient processes based on alternative energies that will power the vehicles and transportation of the future.
October 12, 2014
PlayBuzz Ranked Second For Most Facebook Shares In September
October 12, 2014 | According to a monthly report complied by social media analytics firm NewsWhip, PlayBuzz is the second most shared website on Facebook. The Israeli-created social quiz and list creating website ranked second following the Huffington Post, taking the lead over BuzzFeed, the viral news and list sharing website. The data found that PlayBuzz website pages were shared 7.6 million times in the month of September, with viral winner Huffington Post scoring 9.4 million shares and BuzzFeed trailing in third with 6.2 million shares. PlayBuzz was founded almost a year ago and is part of PlayCharger Media, headed by Shaul Olmert.
October 12, 2014
Report: Microsoft To Acquire Equivio For Up To $200M
October 12, 2014 | According to a “Wall Street Journal” report, Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Israeli text analysis company Equivio. The report states that Microsoft will acquire Equivio for up to $200 million. While the deal has not yet been finalized, both Microsoft and Equivio declined to comment when contacted by the “Wall Street Journal.” Equivio was founded by CEO Amir Milo, VP of Engineering Yiftach Ravid, and VP of Marketing and Business Development Warwick Sharp. The company, based in Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel, specializes in text analysis software that is able to group together relevant texts from a large amount of documents.
October 07, 2014
Kenshoo Mulls $750M IPO Next Year
October 7, 2014 | The predictive marketing software maker Kenshoo announced that it is planning its initial public offering in the US next year, which could be valued at up to $750 million, according to CEO Yoav Izhar-Prato. Kenshoo is a company backed by such reputable venture capital firms as Sequoia Capital Operations and Bain Capital Ventures, and is already in talks with financial institutions in New York regarding the IPO. The CEO reported that the move comes as Kenshoo looks to expand its share of the digital advertising market, which is valued by some as a $100 billion industry. Kenshoo was founded in 2006 by CEO Izhar-Prato, CSO Alon Sheafer and CTO Nir Cohen, counting companies like Facebook, EBay and others among its clients.
October 07, 2014
AppSee Application Analytics Raises $2M
October 7, 2014 | The Israeli mobile analytics platform AppSee raised $2 million in Series A funding from new and existing investors. The existing investors that participated in the latest round are Giza Venture Capital and Moshe Lichtman, as well as new investor Flint Capital. According to AppSee the new round of funds will be used to expand the company’s R&D efforts, roll out additional features on its iOS analytics platform and introduce a version of its technology for Android. AppSee’s technology allows companies and websites to measure and optimize their app performance using in depth analytics. AppSee was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.
October 07, 2014
Chemi Peres Sets Up New Middle East Investment Fund Amelia
October 7, 2014 | Chemi Peres, son of former president Shimon Peres, founding partner at venture capital firm Pitango and chairman of the Peres Center for Peace has set up a new investment fund called Amelia. The new fund will focus on investing in endeavors and ventures connected to the Middle East and was founded together with Jonathan Kolber, a general partner at Viola Fund, and Assaf Shariv, media advisor to former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon. The fund has raised $15 million from private investors, with the intention to raise $50 million by the end of 2015. The fund has already made two investments in a agriculture, energy and water ventures company Demeter and a technology incubator for Arab Israelis called Takwin Labs. All of the profits that Amelia makes will be donated to the Peres Center for Peace.
October 07, 2014
Reduxio Systems Raises $15M In Series B Funding
October 7, 2014 | The hybrid storage developer Reduxio Systems closed a $15 million Series B funding round led by Seagate Technology together with Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), Carmel Ventures and Intel Capital. The latest funding round comes a year after the Series A funding round that raised $12 million. According to the company, the funds will help accelerate product development and go towards supporting its go-to-market plan. As part of the investment round, Seagate will get a seat on the company’s board. Reduxio Systems was founded in 2012 with the goal of creating a next generation storage platform using Flash technology, high-capacity magnetic disks and a new space efficiency called NoDup.
October 07, 2014
Kaspersky To Open R&D Center In Jerusalem
October 7, 2014 | The Russian software security giant Kaspersky Lab is set to open a development center in Jerusalem next year, one of few centers outside of Russia. Early on, the development center will hire only six employees, but that number is expected to grow over time. The CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab Eugene Kaspersky is currently in Jerusalem, Israel for a cybersecurity conference and the Jerusalem Formula Peace Road Show, which he was involved in creating. The Kaspersky Lab in Jerusalem will be established as part of the Jerusalem Development Authority Jnext initiative. Kaspersky’s Israel operations are headed by Noam Froimovici.
October 07, 2014
Alcobra Reports Positive Phase III Clinical Trials On ADHD Treatment
October 7, 2014 | The Israeli pharmaceutical company developed an ADHD treatment drug, Alcobra Pharma announced positive results in a Phase III clinical trial on the drug. The drug, Metadoxine Extended Release (MDX), will be used in adults to treat ADHD. However, the market did not respond positively to the news, with the company’s share price dropping 45.36 percent in premarket trading to $7.71 at a market cap of $192.77 million. According to the company, MDX showed statistically significant improvement in ADHD symptoms compared to a placebo when measured on the Conner’s Adult ADHD Rating Scale. The trial was conducted on 300 patients at 18 sites in the United States and 2 in Israel. Alcobra Pharma is headed by CEO Yaron Daniely.
October 07, 2014
US Billionaire To Sue Powermat CEO For Unlawful Management
October 7, 2014 | US billionaire and Powermat investor and board member J. Christopher Burch will sue Powermat and the company’s CEO Ran Poliakine for unlawful management practices. According to the plaintiff, Poliakine and three unnamed board members carried out suspicious activities as part of their management of the company, including failure to report personal involvement in dealings to the board and presenting incomplete and false data to the board, with the goal of collecting personal profits. Burch became an investor in the company responsible for the creation of wireless charging technology in 2007, investing $6.6 million in the period from 2007-2010 according to forecasts presented to him and other investors that were complementary of the company. The company, Powermat, has yet to receive the suit.
October 07, 2014
Teva Halts Oncology And Women’s Health R&D, Other Projects
October 7, 2014 | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced that it will halt oncology and women’s health R&D as well as 14 pipeline projects identified in its strategic review. According to the company, the decision came as part of Teva’s strategic review in which the company’s current and future capabilities to meet patient needs, the competitive landscape, barriers to entry and profitability and more were addressed. The company reaffirmed its long-term commitment to develop patient-centric solutions and to grow its specialty medicines business with investment in R&D, marketing, business development and innovation. The pipeline projects that will be discounted amount to nearly $150 million in R&D costs in 2015, and according to the company, these funds will be directed at Teva’s other goals.
October 07, 2014
Update: Clal Biotech And Hyperion Agree To Seek Resolution
October 7, 2014 | Clal Biotechnology and Hyperion Therapeutics have agreed to seek a resolution to their dispute regarding the sale of Andromeda Biotechnology to Hyperion. Just a month ago, Hyperion cancelled its acquisition of Andromeda after it reportedly uncovering evidence that the later company falsified clinical trial results of its Type I diabetes treatment. In response to the pull back, Clal Biotechnology promptly sued Hyperion for $200 million, but now the two companies will meet to attempt to solve the matter. According to the agreement, Clal Biotechnology must examine the efficacy of marketing Andromeda to another buyer, and in exchange, Hyperion will fund the current study into the DiaPep277 treatment. The parties also agreed to an interim period that will continue until October 31st in which neither side will take legal action.
October 07, 2014
Sourcery Raises $2.5M In Seed Funding
October 7, 2014 | The online wholesale food supplier and payments processor Sourcery raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The company hopes to use the funds to expand its services into new markets, outside of its current location in San Francisco. The funds came from Palatir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, Yammer CTO Adam Pisoni, David Tisch and Adam Rothenberg of BoxGroup, Postini founder Shinya Akamine, and ex-CFO at Oracle Jeff Epstein. Sourcery works by providing chefs, restaurant owners and food suppliers with all of their food service needs online, letting the user know which products are available in their location and the pricing. According to Sourcery co-founder and CEO Na’ama Moran, the service hopes to expand to New York, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, where customers are already beginning to sign up.
