News Briefs

American company Jive has made its second acquisition of an Israeli company. Producteev, an Israeli-American company, which developed a cross-platform organizational management tool, was reportedly acquired for several million dollars. Producteev operates out of New York city and employs 4 workers.

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Israeli company Easy Social Shop, which enables retailers to easily use Facebook as an e-commerce platform, has raised some $300,000. Israeli financial magazine Calcalist reports that the investment was made by Israeli businessman Tzahi Sultan.

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Israeli drug company Kamada reports that on recent clinical trials done with its Glassia drug, results have shown positive results for treating lung disease. Laboratory mice with bacterial lung infection have shown significant improvement once treated with the drug.

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LabStyle Innovative Corporation, an Israeli company which develops an attachment for smartphones called Dario which allows diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels, has raised $3.5 million at a company value of $22.5 million. The company says it plans on marketing its product in early 2013.

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Fraud protection company BillGuard has teamed up with Lemon, a digital wallet provider. The Israeli company has integrated its technology with the Lemon app. BillGuard uses crowdsourcing to help identify fraudulent charges and prevent them in the future.

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Israeli translation software provider Babylon has filed for an IPO with the American SEC. The company plans to go public by the end of the year and will offer up to $115 million in stock. Babylon has not yet disclosed the company worth it intends to declare upon launch. The company launched an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2007.

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The Weizmann Institute of Science is working to establish the Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, a state-of-the-art research institute that will focus on understanding the roles genes play in diseases and its treatments. The aim of the center is developing methods of treating each person according to their specific genetic characteristics. The Canadian Jewish News reports that to raise funds for the new center, Weizmann Canada is launching a major fundraising initiative.

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Research company Preqin has declared First Israel Mezzanine Investors (FIMI) as the world’s top privately held investment company. Preqin examined 6,000 private equity buyout funds and ranked them according to returns on investments. FIMI’s ranking was based on the returns of the four funds it manages, which have a combined value of $1.6 billion.

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Dr. Sarit Sivan, a senior research fellow in the department of biomedical engineering at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, is one of the three winners of the European Commission’s new Marie Curie Prize for outstanding achievement in research. Dr. Sivan has developed an innovative treatment for lower back pain resulting from the degeneration of discs in the spinal column.

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Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, who is visiting Israel, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. The corporation and the Israeli government have agreed on mutual development of IT, open government promotion and database related projects.

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A new Nazareth-based VC, called FBF (For Better Future), has announced that it has raised $10 million, which it intends on investing in Arab-owned startups in Israel. FBF’s founder, Mussa Naim told TheMarker that he represents two international groups of Arab investors and that the VC plans on raising an additional $40 million.

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Mobile data transfer solution provider Saguna Network has completed a $3 million financing round. The round was led by an unnamed communications company, which was joined by Xenia Ventures Capital. Saguna said that the money raised will be used to broaden the company’s client pool and upgrading its sales and marketing department.

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Israeli company Kenshoo, which supplies an array of web-based advertising services, has announced that it has raised $12 million in its latest financing round. The round was led by Tenaya Capital, which was joined by existing investors Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Growth Fund and Art Alliance.

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Microchip giant Intel and the Israeli Ministry of Education have announced a joint enterprise to promote education for science and technology in Israel. The announcement was made during Intel CEO and President Paul Ottellini’s visit to Israel. Intel plans to invest some $5 million (NIS 20 million) in the program over the next four years.

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Stevie, an Israeli company which develops social-TV apps, has signed a development agreement for Xbox. Stevie’s social media app is expected to be the first Israeli app to be part of Xbox Live’s media section, alongside popular content providers such as Hulu and Netflix.

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