News Briefs

January 14, 2014 | Israeli company uTest, the world’s largest marketplace for software testing services, has announced that it has closed a $43 Million Series E round of funding, led by Goldman Sachs. The funding comes ahead of the company’s previously announced plans to expand its offering and change its name to Applause. This latest round brings its total funding-to-date to more than $80 Million.

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January 14, 2014 | The CyberTech 2014 conference and exhibition will be held in Israel at the end of the month. The conference will provide a platform for dozens of major companies alongside young startups. The conference will be opened by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the participation of senior officials of the global cyber industry: Kaspersky, IBM, Cisco, RSA, EMC, CheckPoint, Verint, and many more.

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January 14, 2014 | The US Department of Energy and Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources have selected four projects to receive $3.6 million under the 2013 Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Energy program. Each of the cooperative projects includes a US and Israeli partner and addresses energy challenges and opportunities of interest to both countries, while focusing on commercializing clean energy technologies that improve our economic competitiveness, create jobs, and support innovative companies.

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January 14, 2014 | The IVC Research Center, in cooperation with KPMG Somekh Chaikin, has published the Israeli VC Fund Raising 2013 Report. According to the report, 2013 was less successful than the past two years in terms of Israeli venture capital fund raising. 13 Israeli venture capital funds raised $526, almost 28 percent below the $725 million raised by 14 Israeli VC funds in 2012, with Vintage and Aleph leading the way at $100 million raised by each.

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January 14, 2014 | Israeli company NICE Systems, which specializes in telephone voice recording, data security, and surveillance, has announced that for the first time in its history, its yearly order total was over $1 billion. The company says it will further elaborate on its 2013 full year results in February.

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January 13, 2014 | Prestigious architecture and design magazine Domus, has listed the top 50 schools in Europe to study architecture. Among the schools listed is Israeli Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design’s Department of Architecture.

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January 13, 2014 | Israeli company Nova Measuring Instruments, which provides metrology solutions for the semiconductor industry, has announced that it has received orders totaling at over $20 million. The orders are for the company’s solutions for microchip manufacturing.

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January 9, 2014 | International corporation Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, has announced that it is expanding its global incubator presence. Their latest venture: a new biotechnology incubator near Israel’s Weizmann Science Park, established through a novel collaboration with the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel and other industry partners.

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January 9, 2014 | Israeli company Implisit, which provides a SaaS (Software as a Service) based product for boosting sales and improving the productivity of sales teams, has raised $3.3 million in Series A financing. The financing round was led by Gemini Israel Ventures.

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January 9, 2014 | Three $1 million winners of the first Verizon Powerful Answers Award were announced at the 2014 CES in Las Vegas. TinyTap, based in Israel and the top prize winner in the education category, is simplifying app development and creating the world’s first user-generated content (UGC) educational app store.

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January 9, 2014 | Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has made an offer to acquire American biotechnology company NuPathe for $149 million. NuPathe is developing treatments for various neurological disorders and has a market cap of $100 million.

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January 9, 2014 | Chinese giant Han’s Laser (a $2.5 billion company) has completed the acquisition of Israeli laser technology company NexTec Laser Metrology. Thought the precise amount changing hands was not disclosed, the sum is between $5 million and $10 million.

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January 8, 2014 | Israeli startup Yotpo, which offers a platform that helps businesses market online via social reviews and user content, has announced that it has raised $10.7 in Series A financing. The funding round was led by Blumberg Capital, with participation from previous investors Rhodium, Gandyr Group, Oliver Jung,2B Angels, Magna Capital Partners, Plus Ventures, Zohar Gilon and several undisclosed strategic investors.

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January 8, 2014 | Israeli-American mobile Internet optimization and monetization solutions provider Flash Networks, has acquired US-based Mobixell, which develops mobile data management, network optimization, and rich media delivery solutions. Though financial information was not disclosed, “Globes” reports that the sum changing hands is estimated at $10-20 million.

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January 7, 2014 | Six weeks following its decision to suspend development of its flagship drug for treatment of pancreatic cancer, Israeli biomed company BioCancell is planning to raise up to NIS 9 million (approx. $2.57 million) in a rights issue. The funds will be directed towards the Phase III trial of the company’s treatment for bladder cancer. TheMarker reports that The company estimates that the funds should be sufficient for maintaining operation at least through Q3 2014.

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