News Briefs

December 16, 2013 | Hadasit, the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Center, has signed a $4 million cooperation agreement with Poland’s Synektik SA to develop new imaging agents for non-invasive diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. The imaging agents are for use in PET/ CT scans, enabling physicians to achieve a quantitative measurement of blood flow to the heart.

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December 16, 2013 | Following the bill passed by the Israeli government, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has voted to accept Israel as a full-fledged member of the organization. Israel is the 21st official member and is the first hail from outside Europe.

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December 16, 2013 | Israeli company RADWIN, a global provider of broadband wireless solutions, will help re-establish communications networks in a number of typhoon-ravaged areas in the Philippines. The company joined forces with sister company RAD Data Communications to contribute twenty RADWIN 2000 point-to-point links to service providers in the Philippines.

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December 16, 2013 | Israeli startup Insightera, which developed a real-time personalization platform for websites and mobile applications, was acquired by American company Marketo, provider of a leading cloud-based marketing software platform for building and sustaining engaging customer relationships. According to several reports, Marketo paid $20-30 million for the Israeli startup.

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December 12, 2013 | BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, a developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, has announced that it was awarded an $800,000 non-dilutive grant from Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) for the year 2014. The grant is intended to support BrainStorm’s clinical and product development for its stem cell therapy candidate NurOwn.

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December 12, 2013 | Israeli ecommerce startup Loop Commerce has decided to expand its recent financing round in order to enable international ecommerce giant PayPal to participate in it. PayPal’s investment will bring the financing round’s total from $7.2 million to $12 million. PayPal is the only company participating in the round, which was raised from private investors.

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December 12, 2013 | The board of Israeli data security firm ForeScout has decided hold an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq within six months. “Calcalist” reports that the IPO will be held at a company value of $400-500 million and that ForeScout will attempt to raise $100 million.

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December 11, 2013 | A group of researchers from Ben Gurion University and their colleagues have won an NIS 900,000 grant for three years from the Ministry of Agriculture to establish and develop an information technology center. The group is led by Doctor Amots Hetzroni of the Agricultural Research Organization Volcani Center.

Photo: Wheat field by Bigstock

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December 11, 2013 | Vitens, a major Dutch water company, has announced that it will discontinue all joint ventures with Israel’s water company Mekorot, in protest of the latter’s activity in the west bank. According to Vitens, the decision came after consulting with Dutch Foreign Ministry and in order to “follow international law.”

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December 10, 2013 | Professor Gonen Ashkenasy, a member of the Department of Chemistry at Ben Gurion University, will serve as Vice Chair of European Consortium to Synthetically Create Life. The consortium, launched last week, is funded through COST. The Action is headed by Prof. Sijbren Otto from the University of Groningen in Holland.

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December 10, 2013 | Israeli startup ObserveIT, which develops technology for monitoring and auditing employees on company computers, has announced the closing of a successful financing round. ObserveIT raised $20 million from Bain Capital Ventures. The company says it will use the proceeds to develop its products, expand its sales and recruit more employees for its US headquarters.

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December 10, 2013 | Israeli medical device company, Caesarea Medical Electronics (CME), which develops infusion pump systems, will receive $100 million in an acquisition dealwith healthcare technology developer CareFusion. As part of the deal, CareFusion will acquire 40 percent of CME.

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December 9, 2013 | Israeli startup Zollo, which developed an app for comparing prices between different supermarkets, has announced the closing if a successful financing round, raising NIS 3.1 million (approx. $900,000). The financing round was led by Nielsen Innovate.

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December 9, 2013 | A new accelerator has opened its gates, specifically to companies that develop technology to improve the lives of disabled people. The new program, A3i (Accelerating inclusion in Israel), will operate out of Beit Issie Shapiro in Ra’anana, which partnered with the program, and is expected to host 15 companies. The organization behind the project is PresenTense, a global organization that promotes entrepreneurship and has already established 16 accelerators worldwide.

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December 9, 2013 | US-based broadcasting equipment and service provider Harris Broadcast has announced that it is acquiring Israeli company Imagine Communications, which develops digital video solutions. The amount changing hands was not disclosed. The company has raised $34.7 million to date.

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