CTECH – Latest Israeli Technology and Innovation News April 27, 2022
Riverside.fm nets $35 million Series B for remote recording platform. The audio and video recording service is used in the broadcast media, entertainment, and tech spaces with capabilities in producing podcasts, interviews, internal, and external communication videos. Read more
Source Defense secures $27 million Series B for client-side protection platform. The Israeli startup’s platform tackles a major concern related to third party supply chain risk, addressing scripts that include unmanaged and unprotected shadow code. Read more
Intel Ignite announces 10 Israeli startups for its sixth cohort. From artificial intelligence to cybersecurity, the 10 selected startups will receive tailor-made mentoring programs to go to market. Read more
Loris raises $12 million Series A for its conversational AI software. The company provides software to help human agents make customer support more human. Read more
“Governments make citizens believe they are safer when they are being tracked. This is bullshit.” Sophie in ‘t Veld, a member of the European Parliament, will chair the commission of inquiry into the use of spyware such as NSO’s Pegasus in EU countries. The inquiry will examine, among other things, whether existing laws allow for effective surveillance, and whether espionage has been used for political purposes. Read more
“JP Morgan invests $12 billion a year in technology, much more than many tech companies.” Ziv Gafni, who is Head of Digital Strategy, Fintech & Markets Innovation at JP Morgan, noted at Calcalist’s 2022 fintech conference that “technology creates opportunities and creative thinking for the financial world.” Read more
“The banks have developed fintech capabilities and are all geared towards improving service.” Speaking at Calcalist’s 2022 fintech conference held in collaboration with Bank Hapoalim, Reuven Krupik, Chairman of Bank Hapoalim, explained that “the digital transformation plays a large part in the development of the fintech industry, but it is being carried out simultaneously within banks and financial institutions.” Read more
“Don’t be swayed by funding or valuations,” says Melio COO. “We feel comfortable with the rounds we’ve already raised, but are now focused on our business and don’t see a slowdown. Fintech is a huge industry, and there are great opportunities,” added Tomer Barel, Melio’s COO, during Calcalist and Bank Hapoalim’s fintech conference. Read more
Appointments | Dell Technologies Capital adds Omri Green as new investing partner. Throughout the last decade, DTC has actively invested in Israeli-founded startups, including: VAST Data, Redis, Pecan, Swish.ai, Treeverse, and Lightspin. Read more
“I go crazy when women tell me ‘I can’t do it because of the kids’,” says Speedvalue founder and CEO. Tali Shem Tov, who is the only female CEO of an Israeli publicly-traded high tech company explains why she doesn’t believe in glass ceilings. Read more
TULU raises $20 million Series A for usage economy platform and amenity services. The Israeli startup provides on-demand rentals of high-quality home products, household items, and perishables to reduce the cost of living and waste in compact city living. Read more
Amazon investing in Israeli robotics startup BionicHIVE. The Israeli startup’s SqUID robotics solution is deployed in a wide range of supply chain facilities utilizing existing shelving racks and boxes and is capable of pick and put-away from floor to ceiling. Read more
The ultra-Orthodox cyber division protecting Iron Dome. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has a special cyber division in Jerusalem that includes 55 ultra-Orthodox employees, some former yeshiva students, that help make sure no one penetrates the air defense system. Read more
Yochananof’s CEO is a high-tech investor to be reckoned with. From investing in transport drones to sugar-free sugar, Eitan Yochanaof is more than just the head of one of Israel’s leading supermarket chains. Read more
CTech’s Book Review: Understanding the “three Ps” when dealing with grief. Pamela Becker, CMO at WhizzCO and Co-founder and Chair at Jeremy’s Circle, shares insights after reading “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. Read more
Long Exposure |“When you are a base, you’re like a parent, the responsibility is yours, and I’m good at that.” Yuval Tal became addicted to acroyoga, and understood how it explains his entrepreneurial choices and the relationships within his family. Read more
“I’m not afraid of excess money, but of hedonism. It erodes sharpness.” After surviving a helicopter accident, Amnon Shashua explains why genius lies in identifying problems rather than solving them. Read more
Demostack raises $34 million Series B led by Tiger Global for product demo platform. The Israeli startup has developed a platform with the ability to create tailored product demos for every live sales call in minutes. Read more
Investment management platform FundGuard closes $40 million Series B, including Citi and State Street. The Israeli startup’s SaaS platform for investment management and administration helps asset managers and fund administrators to manage mutual funds, ETFs, hedge funds, insurance products, and pension funds. Read more
Copyleaks raises $6 million to uncover plagiarism. The Israeli startup’s AI-based product can spot whether text has been used elsewhere, even including cases where the text has been edited or paraphrased. Read more
Cultivated meat consortium receives $18 million grant from Israel Innovation Authority. The consortium of 14 companies and 10 academic labs aims to develop more efficient, cost-competitive production methods and pilot scale-up opportunities that are aligned with the food industry of cultivated meat. Read more
Volvo invests in fast-charging battery unicorn StoreDot. The investment comes as part of the Israeli company’s Series D in which it was valued at $1.5 billion. Read more
Boarding Pass | ElastiMed is offering a hand to those with leg pain. The company has received a total of $5 million to penetrate a market relevant for 1 in 20 Americans. Read more
Impact Tech | The platform analyzing CT scans in real-time and saving lives. Viz.ai developed a system that reads CT scans quickly, warning doctors against strokes and brain hemorrhages by sending a message to
their app. Read more
Long Exposure | “In the third session, my psychologist burst into tears and said, ‘I cannot treat you.'” Eyal Waldman conducts himself in his personal life just as he does in the business world. Read more
Opinion | Why startups find it difficult to recruit talent without a strong employer brand. “For the foreseeable future, the biggest challenge for all stage companies will be recruiting talented employees,” writes Shoham Levy, CEO of Creativity Value. Read more
Opinion | Why is customer success so important for post-Covid business? “The customer success role begins when sales prospects become customers. When the sales team looks at new customer acquisition via conversion, the customer-success team is ready to handhold and support them,” writes Guy Galon of Hysolate. Read more
“Israel has gone from being ‘the startup nation’ to ‘a party nation’, and I’m ashamed.” “A lot of money has been poured into local high-tech, reaching corruption levels” • “Some of the CEOs are children who have no sense of responsibility” • JFrog CEO Shlomi Ben Haim takes off the gloves. Read more
Cybersecurity unicorn Cybereason opening new R&D center in Beer Sheva. The company plans to recruit over 100 new employees for its new offices at the Gav-Yam Negev High Tech Park. Read more
Impact Tech | The Israeli startup encouraging social responsibility and volunteering. Vee’s platform, led by CEO May Piamenta, connects companies with nonprofits who are looking to give back to society. Read more
Long Exposure | “I live in a nerd’s Disneyland. I’m the Robin Hood of the internet, a Yoda battling the bad guys.” Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola, learned from his father how to fall in love with an idea, and from his mother to always question the price of milk. Read more
“I still feel like Cinderella and that I’m here by mistake.” After beating multiple cancers, former Chief Scientist Orna Berry turned being a cancer survivor into a hobby. Read more
“My picture can crack but that’s what makes it valuable.” Edward Kaprov takes photographs on glass using the 19th century-Collodion process. Read more
“I learned not to be just a bulldozer, but a dancing bulldozer.” Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk’s failure to direct her eldest daughter to high-tech taught her the limits of power. Then came Pilates. Read more
Opinion | Opportunities abound in the metaverse for hangry people of faith. Perhaps the next time the stars all align, and Ramadan, Good Friday and Passover all coincide, members of all three religions can enjoy a shared virtual meal in the metaverse while they simultaneously physically abstain, writes Dov Greenbaum. Read more
Out of the Bubble | “Getting a Haredi employee into a company is not a simple thing.” CTech’s Out of the Bubble series visits Bnei Brak to explore the relationship between Startup Nation and the country’s ultra-Orthodox community. Watch full video
“We don’t see the typical entrepreneur” in Bnei Brak. Speaking to CTech as part of its Out of the Bubble series, Founding Managing Partner at Glilot Capital Partners Arik Kleinstein outlined how Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community differs from other sectors. Watch full video
How is Google Israel helping diversify Startup Nation? Einat Nemesh, Director at Google Israel, spoke with CTech about the company’s diversity efforts. Watch full video
DeFi startup bloXroute raises $70 million Series B led by Softbank. bloXroute, headed by Israeli CEO Uri Klarman, is a global content distribution network for blockchain scalability which enables decentralized finance traders to win more trades. Read more
Israeli high-tech companies raise $5.6 billion in first quarter of 2022. Cybersecurity and fintech were once more the leading sectors, raising $1.8 billion and $985 million, respectively, in the first three months of the year. Read more
Fire blocks to provide finance powerhouse FIS with digital asset investing and wallet technology. FIS intends to use the Israeli unicorn’s platform to allow capital markets clients to move, store and issue digital assets, and gain access to self-custody digital asset wallet technology, an asset transfer network and tools to access staking, and DeFi. Read more
Israel investing $6.25 million in autonomous transportation pilot. The Ministry of Transport, National Public Transport Authority, Innovation Authority, and Ayalon Highways are combining forces to examine the feasibility of integrating autonomous vehicles in the public transportation system in Israel. Read more
CTech’s Book Review: Embracing adversity as the underdog. Roy Bachar, Chief Business Officer at Upstream Security, has joined CTech to share a review of “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants” by Malcolm Gladwell. Read more
