Israeli-founded electric car venture better place plans to slash at least 150 workers from its Israeli R&D center. The cut in manpower is due to company’s financial remodeling, brought upon by CEO Evan Thornly, who replaced Better Place’s founder, Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi.
News Briefs
October 30, 2012
Electric Car Company Better Place To Fire 150 R&D Workers
October 30, 2012
Israeli Xeround Goes Green With GreenQloud
Database as a Service company Xeround has announced a partnership with Icelandic cloud-data storage GreenQloud. GreenQloud defines itself as “the world’s first Truly Green” public compute cloud and data storage service. GreenQloud uses highly efficient hardware and is the only cloud Infrastructure as a Service provider powered by 100% renewable energy.
October 30, 2012
Israeli Government Allocates NIS 120M For Seed-Stage Companies
The Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist has received NIS 120 million (Approx. $30.7 million) from the Israeli treasury, which will be directed mostly towards investments in seed-stage companies in need of funding. The Chief Scientist was promised a total of NIS 400 million in 2012, but budgetary problems may prevent the entire sum to be delivered. So far, the treasury has transferred a total of NIS 300 million in 2012.
October 29, 2012
Israeli QualiTest acquires British TCL Group
QualiTest Group, an Israeli global leader in Quality Assurance and Software Testing Services, announced the acquisition of the UK based TCL, a global Software Testing firm. QualiTest has not disclosed the amount paid for the acquisition.
October 29, 2012
Negev Ranked 2nd On Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Regions For 2013 List
Popular travel guide Lonely Planet has published its list of top 10 regions to visit in 2013. The Israeli Negev, a desert region that makes up 60 percent of the country, was ranked second on the list. The first place was reserved for the French island Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
October 29, 2012
Cemmerce Raises $500,000 In Financing Round
Israeli company Cemmerce, which enables content publishers to cash in on products mentioned on their websites, has announced a successful financing round of $500,000. When implemented on a website, Cemmerce automatically links product names to four online retailers who offer the best deals for it, and splits the affiliation fee with the content publisher.
October 29, 2012
Teva’s Leukemia Treatment Gets FDA Approval
Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva has announced that the American Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has granted approval for Synribo, an injectable drug for treating leukemia. The company says that the drug will soon be available for prescription.
October 28, 2012
WalkMe Raises $5.5M In Financing Round
Online guidance system developer WalkMe has announced a successful financing round, raising $5.5 million. The round was led by Gemini Israel Funds. WalkMe develops on-screen, simple to follow, and, according to the company, error-proof guides for completing online tasks.
October 27, 2012
IVC: Israeli Companies Raise $488M In 2012 Q3
The Israeli Venture Capital Research Center (IVC) says that Israeli high-tech companies have raised $488 million form VCs in the third quarter of 2012. According to the IVC, the data shows an increase of 8 percent in comparison to the second quarter.
October 26, 2012
Helmsley Trust Grants Israeli Scientists With $15M To Develop Cleantech
American charity Helmsley Trust has given Israeli scientist a boost for developing clean energy. The charity will distribute $15 million to scientists affiliated with the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The fund will be distributed over three years and will focus on projects dealing with renewable energy.
October 25, 2012
$250M VC Blumberg Capital Opens Offices In Tel Aviv
American VC Blumberg Capital has set up shop in Israel – the first offices the company opens outside of the US. Company owner David Blumberg told Israeli magazine TheMarker that he considers Israel to be “the most innovative place in the world outside Silicon Valley”. The company is planning to invest in three to seven Israeli companies in its first year of operation.
October 25, 2012
Enlivex: Positive Results in Trial for Treatment of Bone Marrow Transplant Recipients
Israeli company Enlivex reports a successful trial on its treatment for bone marrow transplant recipients. According to the company, as many as 70 percent of transplant recipients develop a condition known as Graft-versus-Host Disease, which causes severe health problems, and has no effective treatment.
October 25, 2012
Wall Street Journal: Tel Aviv One Of 3 Most Innovative Cities In The World
Prestigious magazine Wall Street Journal has announced the three finalists for its “Most Innovative City” award. The three finalists are New York City, USA, Medellin, Colombia and Tel Aviv, Israel. The winning city will be announced in January 2013 and will be featured on the magazine’s February 2013 issue.
October 24, 2012
Horizon Invests In Israeli Shine Security
Israeli smartphone protection company Shine Security raises $3.3 million in its first financing round, which was led by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s Horizon Ventures. Shine develops security systems for smartphones, which allegedly makes them hack-proof.
October 24, 2012
Israeli Pharmaceutical Company Pharma Two B raises $8M
Pharma Two B, an Israeli company which develops fixed-dose combination drugs, has announced that it has raised $8 million in its second financing round. The company says that it will use the funds to continue the development of its early-stage Parkinson’s disease treatment.
