CTECH: Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News Jan. 19, 2024
Benny Landa’s lab diamond startup Lusix sees valuation crash, raises urgent funding. The Israeli company has been significantly hit by high interest rates and increased industry competition, resulting in an emergency funding round at a valuation of just $50 million. Read more
Hub Security entered Nasdaq at $1.3B valuation despite not having a mature product or significant sales, admits outgoing CEO. “There was no product and there were no sales. The product was not ready at all,” said outgoing CEO Uzi Moscovich, who still serves as a director on Hub’s board. The cyber company has lost over 98% of its value since entering the Nasdaq 10 months ago, falling to a market cap of under $20 million. Read more
Cyber startup Vicarius raises $30 million Series B for vulnerability remediation platform. Since the company’s last round of funding in 2022, Vicarius has grown its customer base to over 400 customers, adding global organizations like PepsiCo, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Bupa, and Equinix. Read more
Cultivated meat startup Aleph Farms gets historic approval to sell lab-grown steaks in Israel. The Israeli startup, which has raised $140 million to date, collects sample cells from a living animal and then grows more in a cultivator that mimics conditions in the animal’s body. Read more
Cardumen Capital raises $120 million for early-stage deep tech fund. The Israeli-European VC will invest in pre-Seed and Seed stage companies in fields such as AI, cybersecurity, big data, and information technologies. Read more
Oracle CEO Safra Catz: “We believe now is a very good time to be in Israel.” One of the most powerful people in global tech discussed why she is visiting Israel during the war, how she knows VCs will continue to invest in local tech, and the importance of Jewish unity and resilience. Read more
Snyk acquires cyber startup Helios for several tens of millions of dollars to boost cloud-to-code risk visibility. The cyber unicorn will combine Helios’ full-stack runtime data collection and insights with its developer security platform with the aim of providing customers a comprehensive picture of all company applications. Read more
Xyte raises $20 million Series A and lends $10 million from BlackRock to help OEMs manage their devices. The Israeli startup’s platform enables OEMs across different industries to cloudify, service, support, and commercialize their connected devices. Read more
Nvidia SVP software: “Without Israeli entrepreneurship we would not have reached where we are as a company.” Amit Krig, SVP software and NIC Product line at Nvidia and the head of its Israeli site, explained that the chip giant’s commitment to Israel stems from the people: “Mellanox’s systems sit deep within the infrastructure that makes ChatGPT possible.” Read more
AI21 CEO: “There may be a decrease in funding in tech, but AI is a funding bubble.” Prof. Yoav Shoham, founder and co-CEO of AI21, who chairs the scientific committee of the National Program for Artificial Intelligence, believes Israel should be doing more to promote local AI development. Read more
Shlomo Kramer: “Israeli cyber is still a global brand, but security, democracy, and stability have been severely damaged.” The high-tech entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of Cato Networks spoke about the numerous challenges faced by Israeli tech over the past year, from the judicial reforms to the ongoing war. Read more
Chief Scientist at Microsoft Israel R&D: “AI brings the biggest jump in productivity in 30 years.” Dr. Tomer Simon, the Chief Scientist of Microsoft Israel Research and Development, noted that, “Artificial intelligence is the most significant technology of this period—2023 witnessed a 29% increase in the efficiency and speed of work.” Read more
“There will be fewer investments next year, but we believe in the Israeli economy.” Lisa Cohen, a partner at Intel Capital, Intel’s venture capital fund, spoke as part of a panel on investments at Calcalist’s Tech TLV conference. Regarding the consequences of the current war, Dan Amiga, co-founder and CTO at Island, said, “People have gone from asking what is my next project to worrying about existential security.” Read more
Steve Mnuchin: “We’re looking at some very large significant investment opportunities in Israel.” Despite the ongoing war, the former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, who visited Israel last week, remains optimistic regarding the outlook of the local economy and its high-tech sector. Read more
Unreported funding rounds propel Israeli high-tech investment to almost $10 billion in 2023. According to a report by Startup Nation Central, the expectations for M&As and IPOs in 2024 are encouraging, and the leading sectors – AI, cybersecurity, and defense technologies – are expected to continue the upward trend. Read more
‘Serving in reserves reminds me of why I made aliyah’. 100 days into Israel’s war against Hamas and since the October 7th attacks, CTech spoke to Josh, a South African immigrant and communications manager for a tech company, currently serving as a reservist in an artillery unit on the Gaza border. Read more
On the docket in Davos 2024: War in Gaza and AI regulation. The economic summit will open on Monday in Switzerland against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions, the Houthi threat to global trade and the desire to introduce responsible use of artificial intelligence. Read more
Israel’s weapons orders cross $5 billion since outbreak of war. Due to local demand, major defense companies Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Elbit Systems have delayed the supply of weapons worth over $1.5 billion to their global customers. Read more
The gig is up: Customers paying the price for the sharing economy. From Uber, to Airbnb, to Wolt. The “disruptive technology” companies promised an easy and shiny new life using cheap money. However, once interest rates rose, services that were once efficient, cheap and aesthetic have become complicated, expensive and unattractive. Read more
Opinion | Israel needs to formulate a cross-ministerial strategy to assist the tech sector. “Israel’s technological advantage isn’t assured. We must adopt a proactive approach, similar to tech companies striving for continuous innovation,” writes Liron Rose. Read more
From Gaza to CES: When Israel’s tech sector balances both worlds. Israeli entrepreneurs are flying from the battleground to the playground, temporarily putting war aside to show off Startup Nation. Read more
Playtika cutting 300-400 jobs in new round of layoffs. The gaming company is reducing its headcount by another 10% after laying off around 900 employees in 2022. Read more
Business intelligence unicorn Sisense sacking 13% of workforce in second round of layoffs in six months. Sisense has seen its team shrink by half since 2022, with 60 jobs now set to be cut after 100 employees were let go last July. Read more
Unhappy new year: 2024 opens with wave of layoffs in tech, and AI could be making it worse. The layoffs of hundreds of employees at Google this week came on the back of the cuts at other companies to start the year, including Amazon, Xerox and Duolingo. Although this is a relatively small wave, it is enough to raise concerns that high-tech will not return to accelerated growth any time soon. Read more
Vintage Investment Partners raises $200 million for its 4th growth-stage fund. Growth IV will invest in 15-20 leading Israeli, European, and U.S. growth-stage technology startups. The new fund brings Vintage’s total assets under management to roughly $4 billion. Read more
Government announces support package for Israeli high-tech sector. Amid the severe damage suffered by Israel’s high-tech industry last year, the Israel Innovation Authority is launching a series of aid initiatives to the tune of NIS 1.2 billion ($319 million), including a fund of half a billion shekels to invest in high-tech companies. Read more
State of the unicorns 2024: The full and updated list. Many Israeli unicorns, startups valued at a billion dollars or more, did not survive the flock of black swans that hit the local tech ecosystem over the past couple of years. However, those that managed to remain afloat, are entering 2024 in a much stronger position, ready to capitalize on the difficult lessons they have learned. Read more
Who’s ready for an IPO? Following the upheaval in high-tech, entrepreneurs are going to be forced to issue decacorns at a value lower than their last funding round. Besides the blow to the ego, the move hurts the employees’ options. The market is currently flooded with unicorns and the competition for investors is intense. Read more
From breakout to bargain. Many unicorns are finding themselves in trouble, relying on whatever money they have left. But when the cash runs out this year and there is no possibility to continue paying the workers, we may see some go up for sale at ‘bargain’ prices. Read more
The fall of the Zombiecorns. A number of unicorns crashed after the euphoria of the tech bubble of 2020-2021 and became worthless zombies. These companies were mired in criminal entanglements, and relied on misrepresentation of data and charm to cover up a lack of real business activity. Read more
Fighting for revenue. A promise of future income no longer ensures unicorn status. Interest rate increases and the recession in the industry sent investors looking for actual revenue and companies that will streamline and lay off. Read more
IronSource founders leaving Unity amid major cutbacks. The Israeli company merged with Unity at a $4.4 billion valuation in November 2022. Unity announced its plans to lay off approximately 25% of its workforce earlier this week. Read more
Ask-AI raises $11 million for its Generative AI assistant for enterprise workflows. Its solution is designed to improve efficiency in repetitive tasks, knowledge management, and understanding the needs of customers. Read more
