CTECH – Latest Israeli Technology and Innovation News
role amid widespread uncertainty. Peirce believes financial innovation can ultimately decide who is included and who is excluded from the marketplace and how increased participation can lead to a better economy as a whole. Read more
Opinion | Tower proves there is no shame in being the victim of a cyberattack. The companies that should really be ashamed are the ones that think that they can hide a breach, not understanding that it will be revealed in retrospect or while it’s ongoing. Read more
Nine Israeli organizations granted EU funding under Horizon 2020 program. The entities will take part in eight of the twenty-three international projects designed to tackle the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Read more
Wikipedia is the perfect Covid-19 datasource, says IBM research director for healthcare informatics. Ahead of speaking at Startup Nation Central’s ‘The New Digital Age’ online conference, Dr. Michal Rosen-Zvi spoke with CTech about how data can be collected now to help us in the future. Read more
Oil refining and petrochemicals giant Bazan ready to promote innovation in renewable energy. Bazan Group’s innovation platform, Bnnovation, is meant to facilitate the company’s expertise in the fields of energy, renewable energy and industry 4.0. Read more
Israeli insurtech startup WeSure hoping to follow in the footsteps of Lemonade and Hippo. WeSure is aiming to raise $60 million at a valuation of $200 million to fund expansion into U.S. market and is also considering an IPO. Read more
Interview | “Investment opportunities will be slow to come along in 2020. We’re in a marathon not a sprint to recovery.” DLA Piper senior partner Jay Epstien says creative and innovative leadership will be the main factors that determine companies’ success in the post-Covid world. Read more
Sustainability as policy: How to regulate effectively without strangling the market. The first panel of Calcalist’s “Sustainability and Innovation Week” focused on government policies encouraging green innovation – how to open up business opportunities while protecting the environment? Read more
Analysis | Wall Street’s investment frenzy is not over, it is just shifting its focus. With the U.S. presidential election right around the corner, President Trump will not let the U.S. stock markets crash, but his administration is likely to pay more attention to sectors that have been severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Read more
“Israel-UAE agreement can open the door to solar energy collaborations.” Sir Laurie Bristow and Alzbeta Klein spoke at the “Sustainability and Innovation Week”, organized by Calcalist and ESIL Technologies. Read more
Israel’s tech industry is unaware of impact tech, says Israel Innovation Authority VP. “Tech companies neglect to define themselves as impact companies and I believe the IIA should focus more on the impact a company can make and take that into account when it examines an investment,” Eldan said. Read more
End game: How #MeToo is disrupting the gaming industry. The gaming industry which, for too many years, operated as a closed boys club, is finally making way for diversity and empathy and it is partly thanks to recent testimonies of sexual misconduct. Read more
Opinion | The next steps taken by the Israeli fintech ecosystem might determine the entire UAE-Israel relations. Governments and regulators all over the world can learn some important lessons from the UAE’s governors in building supporting regulatory frameworks for financial institutions and fintechs to flourish. Read more
Israel’s Electra Group strikes $80 million deal with Tesla. Polish subsidiary Electra M&E Polska will perform electromechanical work for the American electric vehicle corporation in its new plant outside Berlin. Read more
Homeward bound: Israeli tech companies are downsizing their office space. As companies shift to work from home, property owners are being forced to lower rents and offer creative solutions for the lucrative tenants. Read more
Rafael enters the face recognition market, in talks to acquire a controlling share of AnyVision’s defense operations. According to the terms of the deal, Rafael will acquire 50% of the shares of a new defense-orientated company that will be jointly founded. Read more
UBQ Materials to establish waste conversion plant in the Netherlands. UBQ converts landfill-destined waste into a sustainable, bio-based thermoplastic material. The new plant comes following EU demand to increase the use of plastic alternatives. Read more
Former Leumi boss Russak-Aminoach joins $300 million SPAC. Russak-Aminoach, who is also in the midst of setting up Team8’s fintech fund, holds almost one percent of Fortress Value Acquisition’s shares. Read more
BACK TO SCHOOL: 7 Israeli companies helping the world’s students learn from afar. Edtech has been a booming sector for years, but the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has made it more essential than ever. Read more
The Israeli connection behind Michael Jordan’s deal with DraftKings. Among those the basketball legend will be advising on the board of the sports entertainment and gaming company is DraftKings’ largest shareholder, Israeli Shalom McKenzie. Read more
SpacePharma’s mini-labs finally reach space after a year of delays. The Israeli company is remotely conducting four experiments to test the impact of zero-gravity. Read more
DiplomaTech | Cyprus ready to serve as Israeli businesses treasure island. Head of Cyprus Trade Center in Tel Aviv believes the island can act as an ideal point of entry to the EU for Israeli companies. Read more
Back to normal: 8200 Impact accelerator program launches in physical space. After six months of lockdowns, 8200 Impact is ready to launch the sixth cohort of its accelerator program focusing on tech solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Rights activist petition court to block Cellebrite export of spy tools to Hong Kong. The petitioners claim that Cellebrite’s technology is being used to violate human rights due to the political unrest in the former British colony. Read more
CanBreed secures patent for editing medical cannabis seeds. The company wants to expedite its stable seeds enhancement for commercial purposes by using gene-editing technology, but still faces regulatory hurdles due to EU GMO ban on CRISPR technology. Read more
To enable trade relations, Israel must first remove UAE banks from its blacklist. The Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority currently classify the UAE as a high-risk country due to money laundering and terror financing concerns. Read more
Israel startup Gabriel develops gunshot detection software to augment crisis management solution. The ‘world’s smartest panic button’ will be introduced ahead of the busy Jewish holiday season. Read more
56% of Israelis were forced to work from the office despite Covid-19 health concerns. Liveperson poll finds majority of Israelis say they are more productive working from home, CEO urges property owners to go easy on tenants. Read more
Former army general and tech and real estate entrepreneurs investing in import of Chinese electric cars to Israel. The new importer was set up by Niv Oron, the former Managing Director of the Audi Division at Champion Motors, and Barak Cohen, the former Mini and BMW Division CEO at Delek Motors. Read more
Opinion | How to get more value out of enterprise data. A new report points to DataOps as an overlooked path to business growth. Read more
Israeli fintech powerhouse Payoneer recruiting 300 new employees globally. Payoneer has benefitted from the Covid-19 pandemic due to the increased demand for online money transfer and digital payment services. Read more
Payoneer founder and president Yuval Tal to step down and join Team8’s fintech fund. Team8’s team is also rumored to include Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, former president and CEO of Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s two largest banks. Read more
Private micro-mobility companies might finally give cities the innovation they need. CTech spoke with the CEO of Bird Israel on how private companies can help public sectors – to the benefit of millions. Read more
Israeli and U.S. officials arrive in Abu Dhabi on historic flight from Ben-Gurion. The delegation is meeting with UAE officials to discuss the details of the historic peace deal between the two countries announced earlier this month. Read more
Never trust hyperlinks, says founder of anti-phishing company Segasec. Elad Schulman, co-founder and former CEO of cybersecurity company Segasec, recently acquired by Nasdaq-listed Mimecast, says visually inspecting a URL no longer cuts it, as attackers become more sophisticated by the day. Read more
Israeli chipmaker Hailo launches a Japanese subsidiary. The new launch comes following the news of a recent $60 million series B funding round. Read more
Israeli government approves coronavirus czar’s traffic light model.
According to the approved plan, Israeli towns and regions will be divided into four colored categories, according to the current severity of the outbreak in their territory. Read more
Welltech1 announces $400,000 investment in winner of global wellness startup competition. PopBase is a storybook game that helps kids make healthy life choices; “Our portfolio reflects the diversity in the field,” says Welltech1 co-founder Galit Horovitz. Read more
Hands Free: Transportation ministry details regulations for autonomous vehicle experimentation. In the case of a “serious safety event,” the experiment will be immediately frozen, says ministry document. Read more
Israel Innovation Authority CEO Aharon Aharon resigns. Aharon who has led the government’s tech investment arm since 2017 said he felt the job had run its course. Read more
Opinion | Can Israel lead the open-source code revolution? The Israeli tech scene is based on partnerships, innovation and independent thinking which are all vital in open-source code. Read more
Covid-19 will go away, the tech talent crunch will not, says tech veteran Yuval Eshel. Eshel, the CEO of custom software company Giga Real Time wants to launch an internship program for fresh-out-of-school programmers and says he needs $5.9 million in government funding to do so. Read more
Tech@Work | Cultivating a sense of belonging is the number one challenge for companies right now, according to IncrediBuild’s HR manager. IncrediBuild’s Head of HR Ayelet Hammar talks to CTech about some of the ways the industry is expected to change post Covid-19. Read more
Once valued as a unicorn, trustees now seek to sell bankrupt InfiBond for $7 million. Founded in 2014, InfiBond, which has undergone several pivots throughout the years, remains one of the local tech sector’s most enigmatic companies. Read moreDiplomaTech | Israeli innovation in demand for German auto industry‘s next-gen vehicles. Trade rep to Munich says post-Covid business practices make linking Israeli and German companies easier. Read more
Analysis | What’s behind the timed resurgence of lawsuits against Teva? The Israeli pharmaceutical giant was hit with three legal blows over the course of a few days. Read more
Foresight subsidiary Eye-Net to pilot accident prevention technology for Japanese multinational. Should the pilot prove successful, the Japanese company may integrate Eye-Net’s technology into its line of dashcams. Read more
Analysis | Covid-19 forced the Silicon Valley to break out of its bubble. Entrepreneurship is still thriving, but the world’s tech epicenter is adjusting to a reality where geographic location is no longer as important. Read more
How can an event production company survive when people aren’t allowed to gather? When the coronavirus pandemic hit, B.Y Creative and Productions had to think outside the box. Read more
Opinion | Tech employer? A financial crisis is not the right time to forego employer branding. Some good reasons not to neglect your image in the eyes of existing and potential workers, even when the world outside is crumbling. Read more
