News Briefs

Expanding Orthopedics announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a patent for its expandable device for the treatment of Vertebral Compression Fractures, based on the company’s expanding platform technology. The privately owned company, with offices in Israel and the U.S, develops orthopedic products that aim to augment the natural healing process of the body, preserve healthy bone and improve long-term patient outcome.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

HIRO Media, an Israeli video ad management platform for content owners, publishers and media agencies, announced today that it has closed a $5 million funding round from undisclosed investors. The investment follows a number of deal announcements, including among others Viewster, Universal McCann Digital and YBRANT. HIRO Media’s funding will be used to open a New York Center of Development and Support to serve its US customers, company announced. The company has offices in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, New York and Benelux.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Dragonplay, an Israeli social and mobile game startup, announced today that it has raised $14 million in a first round of funding from the global venture capital firm Accel Partners, alongside Entrée Capital and Founder Collective. The Tel Aviv-based company specializes in multi-platform social game experiences in the cards, casino and board game category, which run on social networks and mobile platforms. The company will use the investment to expand its existing portfolio of games on Android and Facebook, launch on new platforms including iOS and grow its team.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Israeli startup Uppsite is partnering with the blogging platform WordPress, along with eight other services that will enhance the content publishing experience of large-scale sites in WordPress’ VIP program. Uppsite is a service that enables publishers to convert their site into a fully-functioning native mobile app across multiple platforms. WordPress VIP users, which include many leading online publications and Fortune 500 companies, will now see the Uppsite plugin pre-installed in their WordPress content management system.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced that it has launched sales of irbesartan and irbesartan-hydrochlorothiazide tablets, two generic versions of Sanofi Aventis’ high blood pressure treatments. According to the company, the brand products had annual sales of approximately $464 million and $124 million in the United States, based on sales data from the IMS research firm. In addition, Teva has been awarded a 180-day period of marketing exclusivity.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. a publicly traded portfolio of biotech companies, all based on intellectual property developed and owned by Hadassah University Hospital, Israel’s foremost medical research center, today announced that one of its portfolio company’s, BioMarCare, which does cancer diagnostics, received a $1 million strategic investment from Micromedic Ltd. with an option to invest an additional $1 million.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Mobile search app Everything.me has raised $3.5 million in funding from Horizons Ventures. The company’s app performs an advanced search, which browses several locations online simultaneously for information about a certain topic. The company is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, but currently focuses on the U.S. market — with native iOS, Android and Windows Phone versions in development.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Conduit, Israeli provider of web and mobile services, will introduce a specialized app for of Android devices that will use their lock-screen as a host for branded content. The tool, called QuickLaunch, will allow users to directly consume designated content from their lock screen. According to Conduit, the company is interested in working only with content providers, like weather, sports and news apps. The QuickLaunch feature will be available on newer Android phones in the coming weeks.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Israeli water data startup TaKaDu has raised $6 million from investors: half from ABB Technology Ventures and another $3 million from its current investors, Emerald Technology Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds and Giza Venture Capital. TaKaDu provides water utilities a solution that detects, alerts and provides real-time insight on leaks, bursts and zone breaches.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

CloudLock, a software company securing enterprise cloud data, announced it has raised $8.7 million from Ascent Venture Partners and its existing investor, Cedar Fund. According to the company, the latest financing will be used to expand its engineering divisions, extend its solutions to new platforms and accelerate its sales efforts. CloudLock, founded and led by Israeli entrepreneurs, is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

StartApp, an Israeli startup that helps developers monetize Android apps, has secured $4.3 million in a funding round led by Ascent Venture Partners, with participation by Cedar Fund, the company’s seed investor. The company, founded in December 2010 by Gil Dudkiewicz and Ran Avidan, will use the funding to expand its technology. StartApp provides Android owners with additional search options and browser bookmarks, after installing apps that have integrated the startup’s solution. The revenue generated from these searches allows the company to offer developers a unique pay-per-download program.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Emefcy, an Israeli company that provides energy efficient solutions for wastewater treatment, announced it has been chosen as a 2012 New Energy Pioneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In its third year, Bloomberg’s program identifies innovative energy companies, based on potential scale, innovation and momentum. Emefcy’s technology aims to lower the costs of wastewater treatment by using the organic matter in the wastewater as a source of energy. Read: Emefcy – Electric Bacteria Turn Wastewater Into Energy

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Israeli website building company Wix today launched a new website builder which supports HTML5. The platform enables users to create websites with full control over their design, template and layout. According to Wix, while the company’s classic Flash-based platform offers advantages for PC users, the new HTML5 product allows for website, tablet, Facebook fan page or mobile-friendly web design available on any device. Wix, founded in 2006, is headquartered in Tel Aviv, with offices in San Francisco, New-York and Dnepropetrovsk, Russia.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved QNASL Nasal Aerosol, a new ‘dry’ nasal aerosol corticosteroid that treats seasonal nasal and year-round nasal allergy symptoms in adults and adolescents 12 years and older. The product is expected to be available by prescription on April 2012 and offers a built-in dose counter. The approval follows a comprehensive clinical development program that assessed the product’s safety and efficacy.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]

Foreign investments funds accounted for 52% of first investments in Israeli or Israeli-affiliated companies in 2011, according to Israel Venture Capital (IVC) Research Center. In 2010, foreign investors accounted for only 31% of Israel’s high-tech investments. The research center also found that In 2011, foreign investors made 21 seed-stage deals – approximately 40% of all high tech investments – compared with only four seed-stage deals in 2010. Foreign VC fund Innovation Endeavors was the most active fund in Israel during 2011, with eight first technology investments.

[sharethis-inline-buttons]