August 19, 2014 | According to an exclusive “Calcalist” report, the German electronics giant Bosch is in talks to acquire Israeli company Red Bend Software. The Israeli software company was valued at between $200-$250 million in 2012 when it was set to be sold to IBM and most analyists believe that the valuation has not drastically changed since. Red Bend is the provider of standards-based products and solutions for software management, device management and mobile virtualization. Red Bend’s products can be found in nearly 1.5 billion smartphones including Samsung’s Galaxy series. Red Bend was founded in 1999 by Sharon Peleg and Gadi Gonen and has been managed by CEO Yoram Salinger since 2001.
News Briefs
August 19, 2014
Bosch In Talks To Acquire Red Bend Software For Up $250M
August 19, 2014
Report: Completion Of Tnuva-Bright Food Sale Postponed 45 Days
August 19, 2014 | According to a “Globes” report, the completion of Chinese food giant Bright Food’s acquisition of Tnuva will be put off by 45 days, until October 5th. The completion of the sale was put off until Tnuva’s products receive approval from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration. Each side in the deal is permitted to postpone the deal for up to three months from October 5th, meaning that the deal could be completed only in January 2015. Last May, Tnuva was sold to Bright Food for about $2.4 billion (NIS 8.6 billion).
August 19, 2014
ABC Buys Channel 10’s “Israel” Sitcom Format By Israel Katorza
August 19, 2014 | The major American television network ABC has acquired the format of Israel’s Channel 10 sitcom series “Israel” starring Israel Katorza. The series will air on the US channel and will be produced by Jamie Tarses and Sony Studios. The screenplay will be written by Matt Tarses who also wrote “The Goldbergs.” Dori Media Group is responsible for distributing the format outside of Israel.
August 19, 2014
GuardiCore Cyber Security Company Raises $11M
August 19, 2014 | Israeli cyber security company GuardiCore announced that it closed a $11 million financing round led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Greylock Partners and other strategic investors. In addition to the investment, Battery Venture’s general partner Scott Tobin will join GuardiCore’s board. The company plans to use the investment to expand and develop its product and to sell its cyber security technology on a wider scale. GuardiCore’s product tracks and eliminates intruders inside data center networks. GuardiCore was founded in 2013 and is based out of Tel Aviv.
August 19, 2014
Report: Baring Vostok Invests $75M In GetTaxi
August 19, 2014 | After the Israeli cab calling app GetTaxi announced a $150 million investment round last week, the name of another of its investors has been released – Baring Vostok. In addition to the $25 million invested by Swedish fund Vostok Nafta Investment, “Globes” reports that the largest investor in the financing round is Baring Vostok, the largest private equity firm in Russia. According to the report, Baring Vostok invested $75 million in the current round, giving up to half of the funds raised in the round. GetTaxi responded to “Globes” that, “This information is incorrect” and Baring Vostok was not available for comment. GetTaxi was founded in 2010 by CEO Shahar Waiser, who was born in Russia and immigrated to Israel.
August 18, 2014
Talpiot Graduates’ alooma Startup Raises $3.5M
August 18, 2014 | According to a report by “Calcalist,” graduates of the elite Israeli Defense Forces training program Talpiot established a startup that raised $3.5 million. The startup alooma specializes in the monitoring and organization of information collected from applications, devices and various online services. The investment round was led by Sequoia Capital and Ariel Maislos, the former CEO of Apple Israel. The startup was founded by Yoni Barvida, Rami Amar and Yair Weinberger, graduates of the Talpiot program in the IDF that trains and educates new army recruits with leadership potential.
August 18, 2014
Save a Child’s Heart Performs Heart Surgery On Yazidi Child
August 18, 2014 | The Israeli foundation Save a Child’s Heart performed heart surgery on a 17-month-old Yazidi child from northern Iraq. The toddler named Wisam was transported to Israel for a life-saving heart surgery to cure his congenital heart disease at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Wisam and his father traveled to Israel in June for the surgery from their home in the Sinjar Provence currently threatened by the Islamic State militants in Iraq. So far, the Islamic militants have killed up to 500 members of the Yazidi population in an attempt to establish an Islamic state in the Middle East. Save a Child’s Heart is a humanitarian organization established by Dr. Ami Cohen to provide children in developing countries access to cardiac care in Israel.
August 18, 2014
Novartis To Invest In Gamida Cell Before Acquistion
August 18, 2014 | According to a “Globes” report, Novartis AG will acquire Gamida Cell, a developer of stem cell therapies including one for the treatment of blood cancer. The deal, which was previously called off, is back on, but will not involve an exit of millions of dollars and instead will occur in stages of investment from Novartis. Later in the process, Gamida Cell shareholders are expected to sell their holdings for a large sum. However, the deal still remains subject to the completion of Gamida Cell’s product NiCord, a blood cancer treatment. Gamida Cell is headed by CEO Dr. Yael Margolin.
August 18, 2014
Report: Haifa Plans To Open Technology-Focused Stock Exchange
August 18, 2014 | According to “Globes,” the city of Haifa is planning on establishing another stock market in Israel specializing in technology companies. Currently, the only stock exchange in Israel is the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and the goal of the new exchange would be to compete with the existing exchange over Israel’s strong technology sector. “The Haifa municipality believes that founding another Israeli stock market in Haifa, distinct from the existing stock market, is important,” a source reported to “Globes.” Haifa’s mayor Yona Yahav has been trying to promote the exchange for two years, hoping to emphasize on seed-stage technology companies seeking to raise capital.
August 18, 2014
Industrial Buildings Sells Rights To Toronto Property For $55M
August 18, 2014 | Israeli real estate firm Industrial Buildings Corporation announced that it sold its leasing rights to a Toronto property for $55,113,626 ($60 million Canadian dollars). In an announcement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, IBC stated that it sold its leasing rights to the Chalkfarm rental apartment complex in Toronto to an undisclosed buyer. Founded in 1961, Industrial Buildings Corporation is one of Israel’s largest real estate and development companies headed by CEO David Zvida.
August 18, 2014
Gazit-Globe Sells Six Medical Properties For $205M
August 18, 2014 | The multinational real estate company Gazit-Globe‘s unit ProMed Properties signed an agreement to sell 6 medical office buildings. The six properties located in the United States cover over 624,000 square feet and are being sold for a total of $205 million, at $328 per square foot. Founded in 1982, Gazit-Globe is one of the world’s largest owners, developers and operators of shopping centers in major urban markets. Since 1991, the company has been controlled by chairman Chaim Katzman.
August 17, 2014
Google Integrates Mean.IO Into Cloud Services
August 17, 2014 | Internet giant Google announced that it will incorporate mean.io technology into its cloud services. The Israeli company Linnovate is the creator of the technology mean.io, a development platform based on Mongo, Node.js, Express and Angular.js programming tools that makes it possible take advantage of them through one programming language, JavaScript.
August 17, 2014
Bizzabo Raises $2.5M To Expand App Functions
August 17, 2014 | The event planning application Bizzabo announced that it raised $2.5 million from existing and new investors. The investors included Kaedan Capital, AfterDox, angel investor Gigi Levy and new investors OurCrowd and Massa Group with Bizzabo raising $4 million to date. The company will use the funds to create new functions for the organizers of professional events and their participants, including sponsors, attendees, speakers and exhibitors. The event management platform is expected to be rolled out later in 2014. Bizzabo was founded in 2011 by CEO Eran Ben-Shushan, Alon Alroy and Boaz Katz.
August 17, 2014
Foamix To File For Wall Street IPO
August 17, 2014 | An Israeli company developing foam-based drugs for skin diseases, Foamix, has published a draft prospectus for raising up to $75 million on Wall Street. The company is set to be valued at $100-$200 million, after money with investment banks Oppenheimer and Maxim leading the offering. Foamix was founded in 2003 by CEO Dov Tamarkin and chairman and COO Meir Eini, both of whom where previously the founders of medical equipment companies.
August 17, 2014
Israeli-Born Johny Srouji Appointed VP Of Hardware At Apple
August 17, 2014 | Apple has updated its executive roster, adding on five new vice presidents including one Israeli-Arab Johny Srouji. Srouji was appointed the vice president of Hardware Technologies at Apple, a global technology giant, and will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Srouji will lead the department that is responsible for “many of Apple’s industry-leading devices,” according to a press release. The Haifa-born native and Technion graduate previously worked for IBM and at Intel’s Design Center before joining Apple in 2008.
