News Briefs

Kadimastem, an Israeli biotechnology company that develops human pluripotent stem cell-related products, announced the signing of a five year framework agreement with Merck Serono. The agreement concerns the use of Kadimastem’s drug-screening platform to discover new oral drugs for the treatment of the neurological disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The company is based in Nes-Ziona, Israel.

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PolyTouch Medical, a developer of hernia mesh placement technologies, announced it was acquired by Covidien, a global provider of healthcare products. The acquisition took place a few months ago, but has only been reported now. According to estimates in Israeli media, PolyTouch was acquired for $10-40 million. The company develops a device for the deployment and placement of mesh during laparoscopic soft tissue repair procedures. It was founded in 2009 by Ofek Levin, Arik Levy and Lena Levin, the winners of BizTEC07 Israel national entrepreneurship competition.

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McCann Erikson has invested $4 million in Israeli incubator TheTime – a new media investments firm. It was founded by Nir Tarlovski and Ilan Shiloach, who is also the chairman of McCann Erikson Israel. The investment was made at a company value of $30 million, which will use the money for investments in its portfolio companies, following joint seed funding with the Office of the Chief Scientist.

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Ormat Technologies announced that Ormat Nevada, its wholly owned subsidiary, was selected to supply a $61.2 million engineering, procurement and construction contract through a competitive bid process. Under the expected contract, which is currently under negotiation, Ormat will provide two air-cooled Ormat Energy Converters for a geothermal power plant project in North America. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. Ormat Technologies develops and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants around the world.

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Shlomo Kramer, founder of Check Point, will invest $4 million in startup Alicanto, which does automated marketing software for businesses. Following the fundraising, the startup will double the number of employees worldwide. Kramer, reached commercial success with several companies in the past, including Imperva and Palo Alto Networks.

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The Israeli water data startup TaKaDu announced its expansion in the Latin American market, engaging with regional distributors in Brazil, Colombia and Chile. TaKaDu’s technology of Water Network Monitoring provides water utilities real-time knowledge and alerts about inefficiencies and water loss in their water distribution infrastructure. The TaKaDu solution uses existing meter and sensor readings and advanced algorithms to detect, identify and report network events, such as leaks, bursts and other faults.

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Ad management and distribution platform DG announced a definitive agreement to acquire Peer39, a provider of webpage level data, for approximately $15.5 million in cash and stock. Peer39 will be integrated into DG’s online division MediaMind. Founded in 2006, Peer39 provides data based on the content and structure of web pages for the purpose of improving the relevance and effectiveness of online display advertising. Headquartered in New York City, Peer39 maintains a research and development center in Israel.

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OrbiMed, a global investment management firm focused on the healthcare sector, announced the launch of a $222 million investment fund dedicated to life sciences venture capital opportunities based in Israel. The fund, OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, includes an anchor investment provided by the Government of Israel. According to OrbiMed, the fund is led by three Israel-based partners – Dr. Nissim Darvish, Anat Naschitz and Erez Chimovits.

 

 

 

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Grocery comparison shopping site mySupermarket has raised $10 million in a funding round led by global advertising group WPP Digital. WPP made an investment of $7 million and the rest was secured from existing investors Greylock and Pitango. The company, founded in 2006, has offices in Tel Aviv, London, New York and Tokyo.

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EMC Corporation, which enables businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service, is holding talks to buy the Israeli storage solutions company XtremIO for an approximately $400-450 million, Israeli media reports. XtremIO, founded in 2009, develops storage systems based on flash memory. The company has offices in Herzliya, Israel and San Jose, California.

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Rosetta Green, an Israeli company which specializes in crop improvement for the agriculture and alternative fuel industries, announced it has successfully completed an experiment producing human growth hormone from algae. The project is part of the European Commission’s effort to manufacture chemicals and proteins in algae, at an estimated $7 million. It is managed by Professor Sammy Boussiba from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. According to the company, it intends to further test these human proteins in clinical trials in mice.

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Israeli mobile gaming company MoMinis announced it has secured $4.5 million in a second round of funding from its existing investors – BRM Group and Mitsui Ventures. This funding round brings the company’s total funding to $9.2 million. According to the company, the investment follows the success of its PlayScape Mega-Game as a distribution vehicle for mobile games. Founded in 2008, MoMinis is a provider of end-to-end solution for the development and distribution of mobile games.

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Merck Serono, a division of German pharmaceutical giant Merck, is opening a drug development incubator in Yavne, Israel. The company will invest 10 million euros in the project, supporting the development of Israeli biotech companies. The project is led by Inter-Lab, the R&D center of Merck Serono in Israel, which has already selected a few projects from over 100 applications it received.

 

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Twitter analytics startup twtrland has raised $500,000 from Internet entrepreneur Jeff Pulver, in a first financing round. The company provides Twitter users information that helps them to decide whether or not to follow a particular user. Their website can analyze Twitter profiles, providing data about users’ daily average number of tweets and re-tweets, as well as access to links and images. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.

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TranzMate, Israeli startup for public transport trip planning, has raised $3.5 million from Gemini Israel Funds and BRM Capital. TranzMate’s app for iOS and Android devices provides information on how to reach a destination, offering real-time information on bus arrival times, traffic delays and the bus driver’s performances based on information gathered by its users. The company, founded in 2011, will use the funding to improve its application and broaden operations to other countries.

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