“The trust that the high-tech industry built over 30 years could be lost in three weeks.” Shlomo Kramer, CEO of Cato Networks, added that “there’s no way back” should the Israeli government make decisions without checks and balances, while Gigi Levy Weiss, one of Israel’s most prominent investors, noted that “the government keeps claiming that our crisis is similar to everyone else’s, but it’s not.” Read more

OCON Therapeutics improving women’s quality of life with innovative IUD design and targeted health solutions. CEO Keren Leshem spoke to CTech about how OCON is pioneering painless and effective IUDs for women and addressing prevalent women’s health issues like endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Read more

When AI decides who to hire. As AI tools like ChatGPT have been integrated in recruitment processes, concerns have risen over biases in decision-making and privacy of personal data. Read more

Musk limits number of posts Twitter users can read – Shooting his new CEO in the foot. At a time when new CEO Linda Yaccarino is taking significant steps to steer Twitter back on track, Musk is undermining the very foundation on which the company is built. Read more

Wenrix raises $15 million led by Insight Partners to predict optimal timing for purchasing flight tickets. The Israeli startup’s algorithms are based on big data and deep learning models that predict when flight tickets are at their lowest price. Read more

Thoma Bravo’s Applitools acquires Preflight in $10-15 million deal to expand AI-powered test automation tools. With this acquisition, Applitools expands its portfolio to offer an end-to-end testing platform that covers the entire automated testing lifecycle. Read more

General Catalyst to invest up to $150 million to help Lemonade acquire new customers. Lemonade is aiming to expedite its path to profitability through the Synthetic Agents program in which General Catalyst will finance 80% of the cost of acquiring new customers in return for 16% of the premiums generated from the insurance policies. Read more

Israelis should look to Virginia to cozy up to U.S lawmakers. The state of Virginia is near the nation’s capital and a unique spot for Israeli companies looking to partner with the U.S. government. Read more

Ramon.Space lifts off with $26 million for its space computing infrastructure. “Space-grade computing solutions have become an essential foundation for the evolution of the space economy,” said CEO Avi Shabtai. Read more

Investment in Israeli high-tech down 65% in Q2 to $1.78 billion. Despite the number of transactions also falling 48% year-over-year, Q2 saw a 2% increase in investment compared to the first quarter of the year. Read more

Blackstone hasn’t made significant investment in Israeli high-tech since opening local office two years ago. The financial giant hired Yifat Oron, former CEO of LeumiTech, to head its Tel Aviv office in April 2021, but the uncertain climate in the local industry means it remains unclear when Blackstone plans to make a significant investment in an Israeli startup. Read more

Waze hit with layoffs six months after being merged into Google Geo. Alphabet-owned Google said it is cutting jobs at the mapping app as it merges the app’s advertising system with Google Ads technology. Read more