CTECH – Israel’s Latest Technology and Innovation News
Check Point reveals leap in cyberattacks on Israeli medical facilities toward end of 2020. Medical facilities have become a target for cybercriminals during the pandemic; in Israel the figure stands particularly high at 813 attacks per week compared to global average of 620. Read more
Israel approves Tesla’s import license: what cars will hit the streets? After months of delay, the U.S. automaker receives the green light to begin widescale import. Read more
Israel Innovation Authority launches $25 million seed incentive program. Companies that take part in the program will be able to receive a grant worth 40% of the investment round of up to $1.1 million. Read more
Cellopark will operate government-run app for electric vehicles. The company won a tender from the Ministry of Energy to operate an app that will list closest charging stations in order to help people deal with anxiety of “running out of gas.” Read more
Intel reveals Israel-developed facial authentication to secure financial transactions. The on-device solution can be used on smart locks, at kiosks, or ATM machines. Read more
Vertical Field prepares to launch its topsy-turvy farms in Ukraine.
The country’s national distributor, Moderntrendo SRO, will promote the fields to more than 260,000 daily customers. Read more
Israel’s 10 Startup World Cup 2021 finalists are revealed. The finalists were selected from more than 100 applicants to compete in the final in May 2021. Read more
Financial analysis company TipRanks targeting $250 million offering on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Israeli firm, which developed a financial accountability engine that provides a data-driven measure of accuracy for published financial advice, is hoping to raise a total of $50-60 million. Read more
HR Post Covid | HR is “now needed more than ever,” states HARMAN International’s HR Director. As teams are broken up and colleagues are sent to work remotely, the function of a strong HR team is essential to keeping businesses operating effectively, says Shiri Guy. Read more
Round B | It’s never too late to question what it is your startup actually does. Shaul Olmert stresses that when it comes to young companies, the product vision is constantly subject to changes. Read more
Amir Belson appointed as Ceretrieve Chairman following $1.5 million investment round. The company helps improve clinical outcomes of ischemic stroke patients with an aspiration catheter. Read more
Appointments | Data storage company Infinidat welcomes new CEO and CFO. Phil Bullinger, a former SVP at Western Digital, will manage the company from the U.S. Read more
Tesla asks Israel to delay issuing its import license. The electric car company has not completed its rollout plan and wants to make it harder for private importers to sell cheaper used vehicles. Read more
Tesla charging stations coming to Haifa, Eilat, Be’er Sheva, and Tel Aviv. The U.S. electric car manufacturer will be building charging stations for Tesla vehicles in Tel Aviv and Haifa, with ones coming to Eilat and Be’er Sheva during the second quarter of 2021, although delays are expected. Read more
Israeli AI chatbot startup Spetz.io to be acquired by U.S. company Paradox.ai for $5 million. Spetz.io is a chatbot program that uses AI to conduct customer automation and assists human resources departments in the recruitment process. Read more
Elbit to upgrade Greek air force training aircraft in $1.68 billion deal. The Israeli company, under contract by the Ministry of Defense, will provide Greece with 10 M-346 Italian aircraft, upgrade existing aircraft, and build and operate a simulator center. Read more
Interview | “2020 was the year we learned how to take risks.”
HoneyBook’s co-founder and CEO talks about how his company that provides financial services to small businesses managed to thrive despite the blow of Covid-19. Read more
HR Post Covid | Hybrid office models? Just another day at SAIPS. While millions of companies have had to balance working remotely with occasional office visits during Covid-19, for the Israeli tech company it’s been more of the same. Read more
Urban Aeronautics to provide four flying ambulances to Hatzolah Air.
The aircraft will be available to use in 3-5 years after Urban Aeronautics’ engineers work with Hatzolah’s team to tailor the CityHawk to their specific requirements. Read more
IAI successfully tests air and missile defense system tailored for India. MRSAM is an advanced path-breaking air and missile defense system that provides protection against a variety of aerial platforms. Read more
Israeli cyber and intelligence company Rayzone embroiled in African mining dispute. Arbitration proceedings between business rivals reveal the company provides personal cyber services to private interests as well as states. Read more
E-scooter service Bird will implement face recognition technology from Israel’s AU10TIX. The Israeli technology will integrate within the scooter-sharing app to prevent fraud and underage riders. Read more
Interview | SQream founder says that after Covid-19 saw waters recede, 5G adoption about to hit world like a tsunami. With the rise of 5G and the accelerated digital transformation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, SQream CEO and co-founder Ami Gal says his company is perfectly placed to take full advantage with its data analytics acceleration platform. Read more
IAI wins contracts to upgrade South Korean Air Force jets. In an effort to extend ties, IAI’s Aviation Group also relocates manufacturing of business jet’s wings to South Korea. Read more
Magal Security Systems confirms ‘100% acquisition’ of surveillance company BAZ. The acquisition follows the purchase of 55% of the company’s shares in 2018. Read more
Interview | “Election hacking” is just a buzzword, says incoming Guardicore VP of Security Research for North America. With elections in the U.S. and Israel dominating headlines, Amit Serper puts concerned minds to rest – while warning us of the actual threats to look for. Read more
State-sponsored Chinese hackers turning to financially motivated attacks, Israeli researchers find. Cybersecurity companies Security Joes and Profero believe APT27 was responsible for attacks on major gaming companies. Read more
“A resume is just a story people tell about themselves,” says founder of startup that aims to put actual skills to the test. Maya Huber, CEO and co-founder of Skillset, created a platform that helps locate suitable candidates by checking their capabilities against actual job positions. Read more
Opinion | Startups are providing a wakeup call to the insurance industry giants. The current economic uncertainty caused by the
Covid-19 pandemic has caused what looks like a future of continued struggles for these insurance giants in the next few years. Read more
Employer Branding | How Lusha aims to be the ‘love brand’ of B2B companies. B2B companies face an uphill battle in attracting talent away from global or consumer-facing organizations. This meant Lusha had to think outside the box. Read more
Expert | Opportunity for Israeli startups: Japan is seeking innovative green technologies with a new $19 billion government fund. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced a 2 trillion yen fund for ecological businesses and innovation to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050. Read more
Opinion | Privacy breaches add insult to Covid-19 injury. Too many data points and not enough oversight suggests the damage inflicted by the response to the pandemic will stick around even after the disease is eradicated. Read more
Technology may have helped us survive Covid-19, but at what cost? Work from home and remote learning, cyberattacks, and the gig economy, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the already scorching tech development landscape. Some of the changes that defined 2020 will remain in place far beyond 2021 as will some of the mistakes. Read more
Child’s Play? Edgify’s new kid’s book educates about themes of AI collaboration. The book introduces a group of fish who share information to make better decisions – just like its edge computing AI framework. Read more
Interview | “Israel must transition from the Startup Nation to the Innovation Nation.” Yizhar Shai, Israel’s Minister of Science and Technology discusses his hopes to see SpaceX open a local branch, joint scientific agreements with the UAE, a homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, and Israel staying out of the U.S.-China trade war. Read more
HR Post Covid | ControlUp is ready to recharge its ‘party power’ after Covid-19. Aside from the collaborations and Happy Hours, the employees at the IT operations company are looking forward to continuing their parties that last until dawn. Read more
Analysis | “The biggest attack on the elections will come from the TikTok platform.” The next election campaign round is shifting from the streets to digital platforms, and it’s going to be dirty. TikTok provides a space free of censorship, and the combination of voting apps and WhatsApp groups may become conspiracy theories superspreaders. Read more
Food For Mood: How myAir blends natural ingredients with artificial intelligence to manage stress. The company tracks your stress levels and provides personalized nutrition bars for your mental and emotional health each month. Read more
Interview | The Israeli lab where the cars of the future are being formulated. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Innovation Lab in Tel Aviv aims is to advance state-of-the-art mobility, with a main focus on vision sensors, cybersecurity, data, and AI. Read more
Analysis | Tech Trends: Five reasons why 2021 will be as least as bad as 2020. Tech companies will grow stronger, computer systems will continue to leak private data, and elections are still at risk of manipulation. Read more
2020 was not all doom and gloom: 8 positive takeaways from the past year. From peace in the Middle East to the rise of telemedicine, Calcalist reporters highlight the positive aspects of the historic year and technology’s key role in them. Read more
Israel-based IMedis receives CE approval for radiology scans in EU.
The company operates as part of Teva and Philips’ investment platform, Sanara Ventures. Read more
Shareitt raises $2 million in seed for its cashless trading platform.
Its social platform allows users to ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ second-hand items without the use of money. Read more
The tech market marches on, despite 2020 setbacks from Covid-19. On Wednesday, Fusion LA and Pearl Cohen held their exclusive annual Trends and Forecast for 2020-2021 VCs conference, this year – on Zoom. StageOne’s Tal Slobodkin, S Capital’s Aya Peterburg, and Bessemer Venture Partners’s Amit Karp weighed in. Read more
Cryptocurrency tokens are securities not assets, rules Israel Securities Authority. Israeli startup Kirobo unsuccessfully tried to convince the ISA that it will be issuing a utility token rather than a security token and therefore should not be subject to the same regulations. Read more
Opinion | Bitcoin is booming and Israel’s blockchain infrastructure and security startups hold a major key to the cryptocurrency revolution. “We are at the beginning of a revolution, with insane amounts of capital flowing from legacy institutions to Bitcoin and alternative coins. Trust and security solutions are critical for this financial revolution.” Read more
