CTECH – Israel’s Latest Technology and Innovation News
Women’s Day 2021 | “They have this image of a successful entrepreneur… and then along comes a woman.” CTech spoke with 10 women in the VC space to learn some of the ways the industry has changed in relation to diversity and inclusion. Read more
Leading the tech ecosystem towards gender equality. Gender parity in high tech has definitely improved considerably compared to a few years ago, but there’s still a long way to go. Read more
Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.
“I can’t think of anything more empowering than embracing our whole self, seeing our flaws, and working every day to be the best version of ourselves,” says Lisa Zaythik from Appsflyer. Read more
Say yes to opportunities that come your way. “Even if a role seems too big for you, say yes, and make up for the supposed gap as you go,” writes Customer Trust Team Lead at Riskified, Lior Hemo. Read more
It’s less about ego, more about collaboration say leading female executives. Bringing their own unique, less competitive, and more empathetic mindset to their careers, many women are entering high tech and senior management positions than ever before. Read more
Randi Zuckerberg hails new tech fields ripe for women to lead.
Speaking during Calcalist’s 2021 Forecast Conference, Randi Zuckerberg shares some of her insights surrounding women in tech and diversity. Read more
Online platform Webselenese acquired by Teddy Sagi’s Kape in $149 million deal. The Israeli Webselenese, which has been bootstrapped throughout its existence, will provide Kape with significant online tools in the security and privacy sectors. Read more
Tech entrepreneur Shimrit Perkol-Finkel killed in scooter accident in Tel Aviv. The fatal accident occurred shortly after Perkol-Finkel left the offices of ECOncrete, the eco-friendly marine infrastructure startup she co-founded. Read more
HR Post Covid | Having our employees in one room is “priceless”, says Synamedia. While the world may have gotten used to video calls and hybrid work models, you still can’t beat having the whole company together. Read more
PayPal confirms acquisition of Israel-based Curv. The news comes after CTech reported on the estimated $200 million deal. Read more
Round B | Watch out Microsoft and Google, the Flying Pigs are ready to be outed. After six months of secrecy, Shaul Olmert finally reveals what his new startup Piggy actually does. Read more
Silicon Valley of India can offer global stepping stone for Israeli startups, says attaché. “Sometimes the best way to reach a U.S. client is to come to Bangalore and partner with a serious Indian integrator,” explained Consul for Trade and Economic Affairs in Bangalore Shai Moses. Read more
MyHeritage’s new face-altering feature to boost its valuation. A few days after its acquisition by Francisco Partners, the Israeli genealogy company unveiled a new feature that put it above TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in AppStore downloads. Read more
What are tech employees really seeking from their workplaces amid Covid-19? The employment market has experienced its fair share of changes during the pandemic and those have affected employees’ preferences as they come to select their next job. Read more
Women’s Day 2021 | The “Red Dress” story that changed my life and started my tech career. If you think you deserve something, go get it.
Don’t wait for anyone to promote you or to give it to you, writes Co-Founder of Syte Lihi Pinto. Read more
HR Post Covid | Claroty: We’re looking forward to a “happy medium”
after Covid-19. Establishing a healthy work/life balance is essential for the cybersecurity firm as it returns to normal life. Read more
Advertisers to lose $35 billion in 2021 to click fraud, Israeli cyber company predicts. “This is organized crime on a scale that is second only to trade in cocaine,” says CHEQ CEO. Read more
Interview | Spacecom provides satellite communication services to unserved communities in Africa. Spacecom, Israel’s sole satellite communications provider, uses its digital satellites to reach remote territories, bridging gaps, and enabling health and educational services. Read more
Massivit 3D Printing Technologies completes TASE IPO, raises $50 million. The company provides 3D printing systems for the automotive, marine, rail, architecture, and entertainment industries. Read more
Will Israeli taxman go after expat techies who came home during the pandemic? The Israel Tax Authority is so far refusing to accept the OECD’s recommendation to allow people that relocated due to Covid-19 to continue to pay tax in the countries they permanently reside in. Read more
Interview | Need to restore ancient tech? Just call Jesus. Yehoshua
(Jesus) Drai specializes in restoring archeological artifacts and figuring out how they were used centuries ago. Read more
The 26-year old Israeli who landed a $20 million exit from his Amazon store. The flourishing of the e-commerce sector has boosted the revenue of third-party sellers on Amazon’s platform and generated an enormous wave of mergers and acquisitions. Read more
HR Post Covid | For Upstream, Covid-19 showed everyone their personal side. Kids, pets, and house chores – just another day at the office when you work from home. Here’s how Upstream Security managed the Zooms. Read more
“Clients will stay with us as long as we offer good service,’ says Ashdod Port chair. Orna Hozman-Bechor addresses the newly competitive ports market, discusses additional revenue streams. Read more
Opinion | The blight of ageism in the Israeli workplace: why we can and should do better. Covid-19 and the ensuing pandemic fanned the flames of ageism in 2020 to catastrophic proportions, writes Nicole Priel. Read more
Opinion | Misconceptions start with ‘me’. Women often question their own ability to fill a role and are filled with doubt, unlike men, which prevents them from entering positions in the high tech industry. Read more
Papaya Global raises $100 million making it Israel’s first woman-led unicorn. CEO and co-founder Eynat Guez closed the deal late in her pregnancy, says she is rejecting flood of SPAC merger offers. Read more
Space tech companies prefer SPACs over traditional IPOs. In 2020 alone, $25.6 billion were invested in 359 equity investment rounds, experts say the Israeli industry should be receiving a larger portion than it is. Read more
Seebo completes $15 million raise in extended series B. Vertex Ventures triples its investment in the Industrial AI company that experienced exponential growth during the Covid-19 crisis. Read more
Aleph Farms partners with BRF to bring cultivated meat to Brazil.
Brazil is one of the largest beef producers in the world – and a strategic market for the producer of cultivated meat. Read more
AI image recognition company Pomvom completes $40 million IPO. The Israeli startup raised $11.5 million in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange offering a year after completing a private funding round at a $30 million valuation. Read more
Are Israel’s new $100 million helicopters allergic to dust? The Ministry of Defense is planning to acquire 20 CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters at a cost of $2.1 billion but a recent report has revealed that they suffer from degrading engine performance in sandy and dusty conditions. Read more
In Myanmar coup, old Israeli weapons exports are still in the picture.
Israel halted its defense export to Myanmar in 2018, but sales made in previous years are now coming back to haunt it. Read more
Pixellot launches Air, an AI-automated camera co-developed with FC Barcelona. The portable and lightweight device was specifically designed for grassroots sports academies to help players and coaches with performance analytics. Read more
Israel’s Hailo collaborates with AWS and others to launch video analytics solution. EdgeTuring is the result of a collaboration with Leopard Imaging, Socionext, and Amazon Web Services. Read more
Telehealth company TytoCare closes another $50 million funding round. Israeli firm says it has doubled its valuation 10 months after raising $50 million in its previous round. Read more
Women’s Day 2021 | Don’t wait for the moment to come. Seize the moment. When you do something you’re passionate about, out of a strong desire to succeed – you do it in the best possible way. Read more
HR Post Covid | Israeli startup myInterview helped HR teams during
Covid-19 – but who helped them? For departments that now rely on video services, myInterview was perfect. But managing this new demand created different challenges for the company during a pandemic. Read more
Israeli companies are once again charging on Nasdaq, but will it end well this time? There are signs of a bubble, but the urgency is also the result of past experience and the understanding that such a wide window to the market can’t remain open for long. Read more
Next Insurance to acquire AP Intego in a potential $500 million deal.
The Israeli-founded company will increase its SMB customer base to
200,000 and employee headcount to 550. Read more
Citi, Israel Discount Bank, and Visa announce Israel’s most promising Fintech startups for 2021. One year into Covid-19, Citi, Israel Discount Bank and Visa, published the list of startups they are most excited about. Read more
Identiq raises $47 million series A with investments from Amdocs and Sony. The Israeli cybersecurity startup has developed a solution in which it enables companies to jointly validate consumer identities, payment details and other sensitive information without sharing or exposing any private data. Read more
Blend raises $10 million to back expansion into business localization services. Fortissimo Capital doubles its previous investment in the company, formerly known as OneHourTranslation. Read more
OkCupid data confirms it: Vaccines are sexy. Israel’s citizens are being vaccinated at a record pace – just make sure to put your Covid-proof status on your dating profile. Read more
Lumenis’s surgical laser division sold to Boston Scientific for $1 billion. The buying company intends to maintain the division’s operations in Israel. Read more
Israel R&D center developments feature large in Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference. New tools for Teams and solutions for businesses to track their organization data across multiple clouds were among the new made-in-Israel products revealed. Read more
Aya Soffer named as new Director of IBM’s Haifa Research Lab. “I’m excited to take on such a significant role at IBM with an influence that reverberates beyond technological research,” says IBM’s AI chief. Read more
Women’s Day 2021 | How I dared to grow for my role in the tech scene. Putting yourself out there takes courage and willingness to fail. But it’s definitely not as scary as getting to the end of your career without even trying. Read more
HR Post Covid | Siklu: “It is during trying times that a company culture is measured.” Covid-19 caused massive disruption across nearly all industries. Here’s how Siklu rose to the challenge and came out stronger than ever. Read more
In wake of Covid-19 windfall, Fiverr to raise $700 million at $10 billion valuation. As the employment market fell into disarray, the freelancer marketplace platform thrived, reaching 77% growth. Read more
Analysis | Kaltura’s valuation is expected to hit $2 billion in its upcoming IPO. The company provides systems for broadcasting large conferences. Its revenues in 2020 reached $120 million, and it only recorded an operating loss of $8.1 million. Read more
PayPal in talks to acquire cryptocurrency security company Curv in a nine-digit deal. The sale of the platform would be Israeli venture group Team8’s third substantial exit. Read more
Israel’s Rewire raises $20 million to expand financial services to migrant workers. Former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang among investors in the company’s series B funding round. Read more
Kaltura targeting at least $100 million at a valuation of over $1 billion in Nasdaq IPO. The company specializes in live and on-demand video SaaS solutions and generated an income of $120 million in 2020. Read more
Harel Insurance earmarks $100 million for startup investments. The Israeli insurance company’s nine investments in young companies have so far yielded it 300% returns. Read more
Israeli-owned brokerage company Compass Real Estate heads for IPO. The SoftBank-backed company submitted a prospectus for its public offering, showing a 56% rise in revenues for 2020 compared to the previous year. Read more
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet is touching down in Israel. Elon Musk’s brainchild is expected to become available in the Holy Land in 2022. Read more
Welltech Ventures invests $1 million in X-trodes for remote monitoring of neurological signals. X-trodes has raised $2 million to date and will use the funds to implement its technology. Read more
HR Post Covid | Our workers were hired during lockdowns and social distancing, says The First Digital Bank. The hybrid model doesn’t work for everyone. At The First Digital Bank, employees could choose to work permanently at the office if they wanted to. Read more
Israel’s Foretellix partners with Volvo to develop autonomous solutions. The partnership will address the challenges of large-scale verification of self-driving solutions in highways and confined areas. Read more
Interview | “Everyone’s flocking to our games, but without restaurants and cruises our core proposition was impacted.” Playstudios CEO says slew of gaming companies going public symbolizes the deep faith that everyone has in the industry’s future. Read more
Video | The surge in SPACs can be attributed to the high quality of sponsors in the scene, says UBS executive. American finance specialists share with Israeli entrepreneurs their insights on the alternative path to Wall Street that has recently gained steam. Watch full video
Video | SPACs benefit retail investors and are no riskier than other investments, says expert. “Listing a SPAC is easy. Finding a good target and creating value for shareholders and having that stock perform for multiple years, is what’s difficult,” noted Ben Canet, Foreign Investment Manager at Phoenix Investment. Watch full video
