News Briefs

January 30, 2014 | The Vilcek Foundation has announced the winners of the annual Vilcek Prize and Creative Promise Prizes, recognizing immigrant contributions to the American arts and sciences. Israeli-born architect and designer Neri Oxman will be awarded the $100,000 Vilcek Prize for Design.

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January 30, 2014 | Israeli ad monetization company Inneractive has announced the closing of a successful Series C financing round, raising $6 million. The funds were raised by new investor Kreos Capital, with participation from existing investors. Inneractive has raised $14 million to date.

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January 30, 2014 | International computing giant IBM and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have announced their intention to establish a Center of Excellence for Security and Protection of Infrastructure and Assets, located in Beer-Sheva, Israel. This new joint venture will develop a curriculum that will help train the next generation of professionals, as well as perform leading edge scientific research on emerging areas like Big Data and cloud computing.

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January 30, 2014 | Israeli company CloudLock, which develops security solutions for cloud technology, has announced the closing of a Series C financing round, raising $16.5 million. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor.

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January 29, 2014 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a cyber-park to be set up in the southern Israeli city of Beer-Sheva. The park, dubbe “CyberSpark,” will be “the cyber capital of Israel” according to Netanyahu and will draw heavily on its neighboring Ben Gurion University.

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January 29, 2014 | International networking giant Cisco Systems will partake in an investment fund, aimed at the Israeli cyber industry. The $60 million fund will be raised by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), a veteran Israeli investment firm.

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January 29, 2014 | The Helmsley Charitable Trust, which was established from the estate of late businesswoman Leona Helmsly, will donate NIS 25M to Haifa University. The funds will be directed towards the university’s new Mediterranean Sea Research Center, for purchasing undersea robots. Helmsly, who passed in 2007, was a Jewish-American businesswoman, nicknamed “Queen of Mean,” who also served jail time for tax evasion.

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January 28, 2014 | Chinese electronics giant Haier has announced that it will open an innovation center in Israel. The company has recently announced a new strategy, which entails opening such centers in various locations worldwide, in countries where technology that can be incorporated into its products is being developed.

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January 28, 2014 | Israeli startup ThetaRay, which develops solutions for monitoring cyber-threats on organiztions, has raised between $2 million and $3 million. The financing came from Poalim Capital Markets, which has not invested directly in an Israeli startup in years.

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January 28, 2014 | Israeli company Oramed Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a revolutionary insulin pill for diabetics, has filed a request to raise $100 million on Nasdaq. The company is already publicly traded and has shown a rise in stock since its report of a successful trial for its type 1 diabetes treatment.

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January 27, 2014 | International media and content giant Technicolor is planning to invest in Israeli companies. “Calcalist” reports that the company’s CEO and other top executives will arrive in Israel later this week and meet with roughly 100 companies, investors and other key figures in the Israeli business scene.

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January 27, 2014 | Israeli startup Codota, which uses advance big data algorithms to help programmers find specific code segments online, has raised $550,000. The funds were raised from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology’s investment fund and private investors.

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January 27, 2014 | Lockheed Martin  and EMC Corporation plan to invest together in advanced technology projects based in the Advanced Technologies Park in Beer-Sheva, Israel. An official launch ceremony for the agreement was held in Tel Aviv, at the CyberSpark booth at the CyberTech 2014 International Exhibition and Conference, sponsored by the National Cyber Bureau. Under the arrangement, Lockheed Martin and EMC will identify a series of development opportunities that can be contracted to BGU and other subject matter experts.

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January 23, 2014 | International social network giant Facebook will inaugurate a new development center in Ramat Gan, Israel in April, six months after acquiring cellular data analytics company Onavo. “Calcalist” reports that the center will also handle sales to the Israeli market, which were operated from the company’s offices I Ireland thus far.

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January 23, 2014 | Israeli company Waka Storage, which was founded by former employees of XIV Storage (which was sold to IBM for 2007), has raised $10 million. The funds were raised from NVP nad Gemini Israel Venture.

Photo: Mobile finance and statistics concept by Bigstock

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