CTECH Israel’s Latest Technology and Innovation News
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Chinese start-up leaks 400GB of scraped data exposing over 200 million Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn users. Israel-based research lab The Safety Detective revealed the leak by social media management company Socialarks which included personal data of several high-profile celebrities and social media influencers. Read more
Israel’s Cappitech acquired by IHS Markit. Cappitech’s 40 employees will stay on as a business unit within IHS Markit’s financial services business line. Read more
Elbit Systems secures $166 million deal with UK Royal Navy. The contract, that runs over a 12-year period, will see Elbit aid in the transformation and modernization of the shore-based training of the Royal Navy including the establishment of the Future Submarine School. Read more
SoftRide partners with EZRaider to marry self-driving tech with electric ATVs. Former Innoviz employees produce kits that can turn practically any vehicle into an autonomous one, using LiDAR sensors. Read more
Interview | Israel can use medical data to defeat the virus without violating people’s privacy. In exchanging digitized healthcare data for vaccination shots, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured citizens their personal data is safe. Dr. Nimrod Kozlovski, Head of Tech and Regulation at HFN, shares his thoughts on the deal. Read more
HR Post Covid | Covid-19 “blurred the lines” between home and work, says Zoomin HR Director. When the pandemic hit, Zoomin had to help its 90 employees create healthy breaks between work and play. Here’s how. Read more
CES 2021: Mobileye vows to bring autonomous vehicles to ‘everyone, everywhere’. During the annual Consumer Electronics Show, the autonomous vehicle company promised to deploy widespread AVs as early as next year. Read more
One app to rule them all: Israel wants to combine all the ridesharing operators on one platform. From car-sharing to electric scooters and bikes, Transport Ministry calls on all mobility providers to share their data. Read more
As skies prepare to open again, As You Stay helps travelers with their check-in and check-out times. Its app can help travelers save up to 30% on discounts due to hourly, as opposed to daily, rates. Read more
Social Finance Israel seeks to pair financial gains with social benefits. SFI just launched its 5th Social Impact Bond, aimed to reduce loneliness among 200 elderly residents of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Read more
Consumer lending startup Blender going public on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at $88 million valuation. The Israeli company is not profitable but is planning to expand its services in Europe, as well as set up a loans platform together with Bank Hapoalim. Read more
Analysis | Twitter substitute Parler is just a drop in the ocean of sites where incitement is prevalent. Twitter’s competitor was blocked by Apple, Google, and Amazon, but isn’t the only social media site that is used as an outlet for racist content by the American far-right and they too grew up in Silicon Valley. Read more
Unit 81: The elite military unit that caused a big bang in the Israeli tech scene. Veterans of the IDF’s secretive technological division are the entrepreneurs driving major changes across the industry. Read more
Q&A | How is technology and data helping Israel become the first country to vanquish Covid-19? Israel is well on its way to vaccinating its entire adult population and in exchange for delivering millions of vaccine doses, the government has pledged to give drugmaker Pfizer medical data on the millions of vaccine recipients from the health system’s vast databases. Read more
Interview | Fintech company Finastra-Israel brings Druze female programmers to the forefront. “What’s beautiful is that we’ve created a beautiful community of women who’ve dreamed big,” says head of Druze female boot camp on shattering stereotypes and encouraging workplace diversity. Read more
HR Post Covid | Bringg: It’s about the purpose, not the perks, says VP of People Strategy. When a global pandemic causes millions to work from home, Bringg finds its purpose in helping other businesses stay afloat. Read more
Interview | Israel’s IMDT helping bring sports in 3D to your living room. The startup founded by Avi Shimon and Arnon Tadmor is collaborating with VR company Condense Reality on the development of a new system for streaming hologram-style 3D volumetric video. Read more
How to land a tech job even if you didn’t study computer science.
Non-techie tech sector workers offer advice on what to do and not to do when searching for a job in the in-demand industry. Read more
The Yazamiyot community starts 2021 by celebrating female entrepreneurs. Among the prizes were “Most Promising Entrepreneur of 2021,” “Most Promising Young Entrepreneur,” and “Community Favorite.” Read more
HR Post Covid | For Zesty.co, major growth means it’s finally time to enter the HR game. The company avoided an HR team at first, but its 500% growth during Covid-19 forced them to reassess. Read more
Smart city camera solution Telicomm secures $1.3 million series A. The round, which was led by SIBF, will help develop its ‘Video over Cellular’ technology for smart cities. Read more
Is the tax authority coming for your Bitcoin? The Israel Tax Authority defines cryptocurrency as an asset and demands 25% on any profits; its cyber department keeps a watchful eye out for those who forget to pay. Read more
Cyber threats force Israeli Tax Authority to limit access from abroad.
Besides the account details of countless tax-paying Israelis, and the massive sums it collects, the authority also has a vast amount of data about businesses run by Israelis, both locally and abroad. Read more
CES 2021: Small, remote, and lackluster. It seems like we will have to wait for the pandemic to pass before we can get the new toys we so desire. Read more
Opinion | M&As with Europe are being overlooked by Israeli tech ecosystem. “There is a venue for growth equity, private equity or rolling-up into a larger European entity,” says Joey Sabet. Read more
Appointments | Melio welcomes Michael Brous and Nir Galon as its two new VPs. The two come from Airbnb and Intuit and will serve as VP of Business Development and VP of Product, respectively. Read more
Opinion | Happy Bat Mitzvah Bitcoin! My how you’ve grown. 12 years on, the world’s top cryptocurrency is affecting the lives of more and more people and increasingly finds itself under state scrutiny. Read more
After Covid-19 “apocalypse”, popular tech job board reveals surge in open positions. Jonny Stark saw a collapse in job postings on anglo-favorite Secret Tel Aviv, but numbers steadily climbed and are now stronger than ever. Read more
Israel’s Via teams up with insurance giant Sompo to battle car accidents caused by the elderly in Japan. Through an app called NORAZA the elderly in the Japanese city of Chino are able to order smart AI-based transport services. Read more
Israel Aerospace Industries chairman to depart after leading company to $4 billion annual revenue. During Harel Locker’s tenure, which began in September 2017, Israel’s largest defense contractor presented its largest profits since the company was established. Read more
“Despite the stigma, social casinos are a form of entertainment.”
SciPlay, an online American social casino platform, became one of the hottest trends in gaming this past year. CEO Josh Wilson spoke about his plans to expand SciPlay’s Israeli branch. Read more
HR Post Covid | ‘Fireblockers’ have shown “dedication and desire” to work during Covid-19, says its Head of HR. Think a global pandemic can stop the team at Fireblocks from hitting goals and targets? Think again. Read more
Acro Real Estate partners with urban startup Venn, implementing its residential platform. The platform, which will start in North Tel Aviv, will focus on local events, shared spaces, and smart buildings. Read more
OrbiMed chooses against raising a third Israeli healthcare-dedicated fund. The investment firm raised a $307 million fund in 2016, but will not be founding another in a blow to the local ecosystem. Read more
Opinion | Better, Faster, Stronger: Israel’s tech ecosystem is only getting going. “I believe 2020 has marked a new era in the maturity of the Israeli ecosystem and the increasing trend in Israeli companies going public, something that we will probably see this year.” Read more
