Neteera, Lemonade, Healthy.io, SentinalOne and K Health all featured by CNBC among world’s leading startups. Read moreIsraeli company Kamada to offer antibody treatment to Covid-19 patients.

“To the best of our knowledge, Kamada is the first company globally to complete manufacturing of a plasma-derived IgG product for the treatment of Covid-19,” says CEO of the Nasdaq listed company. Read moreFintech startup Pagaya raises $102 million.

Pagaya uses machine learning algorithms and big data analytics to manage institutional assets. Pagaya has more than $1.6 billion in assets under management. Read more

Pandemic to boost adoption of new technologies, says Startup Nation Central study. A new report by the Tel Aviv-based non-profit finds fintech investment in Israel amounted to a record $1.8 billion in 2019, Israel accounts for 5.1% of the global investment in fintech, ranking fifth in the world. Read moreApple TV+ acquires rights to Israeli spy show Teheran.

“Teheran” tells the story of Tamar Rabinian, a young Hacker from Unit 8200—the Israeli military’s equivalent to the NSA and British GCHQ—that is sent under a false identity to Tehran for a dangerous mission, which is supposed to support the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Read moreAmid tourism slump, TripActions raises $125 million in convertible-to-IPO financing.

The funding gives the company more flexibility to weather Covid-19 while accelerating investments in TripActions Liquid and expanding its global enterprise sales and European operations. Read more“Getting paid vacation is not so bad.” How Covid-19 made lifetime freelancers reconsider full-time employment. Former freelancers, forced to fend for themselves amid a global pandemic weigh in on crossing sides and becoming company men. Read more

Interview | Coronavirus-led protectionism poses a challenge to both our economies, says Irish ambassador to Israel. Kyle O’Sullivan says Israel and Ireland share many similar characteristics and can help each other overcome global and regional challenges. Read more

Predictive care startup Clew gets emergency FDA approval to help treat Covid-19 patients. Clew’s system can assist medical teams in remotely identifying patients who are likely to experience common coronavirus complications, including respiratory failure and hemodynamic instability. Read more

Israeli-Australian VC firm Square Peg raises $250 million in commitments. The funding is intended for Square Peg’s fourth core fund as well as a separate fund dedicated to later-stage investments in existing portfolio companies. Read more

Greek PM discusses cybersecurity with JVP chairman amid state visit to Israel. “We are pleased to help Greece meet the cyber challenges it faces,” said Erel Margalit. Read more

Space Florida, Israel Innovation Authority announce winners of innovation partner funding. In October 2013, Florida and Israel established a $2 million recurring joint fund to support research, development, and commercialization of aerospace and technology projects that benefit both Israel and Florida. Read more

Nielsen Innovate to invest 2 million shekels in Pudding.ai. Pudding.ai generates insights and answers questions in real-time on companies’
social media accounts including on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Read more

Cybersecurity company Salt Security raises $20 million. Salt Security uses artificial intelligence algorithms to develops protection tools for application programming interfaces (API). Read more

Major Israeli and international tech groups launch new innovation center. Korea’s Hyundai Group, Israel-based Tadiran and Taavura-Livnat groups., and the Netherlands based-VDL Group, establish Quantum Hub to promote partnerships and growth. Read more

Opinion | How economic uncertainty is pushing financial institutions towards alternative data. Derived from non-traditional sources for financial information, alternative data is becoming an increasingly important tool for investors. Read more

“The pandemic created an opportunity for startups to create an alternative to higher education.” Roei Deutsch, the co-founder and CEO of live video course marketplace Jolt said during Calcalist and Nespresso’s “Coffee Break,” a series of talks about the employee experience in the new routine following the pandemic. Read more

Israeli Covid-19 patient tracing app is raising privacy concerns in the U.S. GlobeKeeper’s SAFE tracing app works with a smartphone or tablet’s Bluetooth technology to communicate with other devices in range. Read more

Israel signs deal to acquire Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna. Moderna announced it was concluding its phase two testing for the vaccine and plans to begin phase three with 30,000 participants in July. The company claimed it could start production of the vaccine as soon as September of this year. Read more

Microsoft launches Israel-developed AI-powered virtual classroom for remote learning. New virtual classroom to be the teacher’s eyes, providing insights on each student, says senior program manager. Read more

Israel Patent Office mulls U.S.-inspired provisional application.
Should the new model be adopted it would offer innovators a more accessible and less pricey route to patenting and could prove a source of revenue for the Israeli economy, according to intellectual property lawyer and former patent office director Asa Kling. Read more

World Bank to invest $15 million to offer IT jobs to Palestinian youth. More than a quarter of working-age Palestinians were unemployed even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Youth unemployment in the West Bank stood at 37% in the fourth quarter of 2019 and an alarming 61% in Gaza, according to the World Bank. Read more

Mysterious investor in Israeli cannabis company Better identified as descendent of Thai business empire. Better requested the approval of Israel’s Ministry of Health to make Niruttinanon a controlling stakeholder, in exchange for a $15 million investment, according to one person familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity. Read more

Jewish divorce court rules that opening a Tinder account does not constitute infidelity. A divorce proceeding got messy after a man claims his wife cheated on him using the popular social dating app.
Read more

CardiaSense raises $6 million to mass-produce wearable health monitor. The company’s watch-like device tracks factors like arrhythmia, heart rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure in users for early detection of stroke or cardiac arrest. Read more

Israeli driver-awareness monitoring startup ADAM CogTech raises $2 million. Mobilion Ventures-backed technology can test whether a driver is drunk, fatigued or on drugs. Read more

Former Facebook exec to head TikTok’s commercial activity in Israel.
Last year, Marco Michieli stepped down as head of agencies and partnerships at Facebook, after six years with the company. Read more

Appointments | Haim Pinto – Cisco Israel, CTO. Haim Pinto, a former chief technology officer at Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, has been appointed chief technology officer at Cisco Israel. Read more