CTECH: Latest Innovation & Technology News Israel at War 12/14/23
Israel’s wartime tech brilliance and the cost of innovation. The mobilization of high-tech to aid in the challenges of war, from locating missing people to treating post-trauma, is also expected to give rise to advanced developments and new startups. But this innovation also reveals the broken parts of our society. Read more
Zero Networks raises $20 million Series B to prevent attackers from spreading in corporate networks. The Israeli startup developed a fully automated SaaS platform that learns all network traffic and creates granular security policies that restrict user and machine access to only strictly necessary assets. Read more
M&A transactions in Israel fall by 46% to $9.8 billion in 2023. A PwC Israel report shows that M&A transactions dropped in the last year to their lowest level in a decade. Read more
Guardz raises $18 million Series A to help secure and insure small businesses from cyberattacks. The funding, which comes just 10 months after the company’s launch from stealth, will enable Guardz to expand its holistic platform for MSPs to seamlessly manage small business cybersecurity. Read more
Funding the rising cost of Israel’s defense expenses won’t be easy. The war in Gaza is expected to increase defense spending on a regular basis by about 0.5%-1% of GDP, which will require the state to find budgetary sources. The treasury has several ways to finance the increase, including increasing the deficit and the debt, a dangerous option that may actually be preferred by the government that will not rush to cut civil spending or raise taxes. Read more
Israel’s Generative AI map rapidly growing. Israel currently ranks as the third-largest Generative AI venture capital ecosystem globally, boasting an impressive investment influx of over $2.2 billion in the last three years. Viola Ventures’ Alex Shmulovich highlights shifting trends, emphasizing incumbent dominance in horizontal applications and vertical startups’ rise with industry-specific solutions. Read more
Adtech company Perion Network acquiring Hivestack for $100 million. “We want to expand and we are continuing to talk with other companies. We expect that we’ll complete another purchase in 2024,” said Perion CEO Tal Jacobson. Read more
CorrActions raises $7.25 million to prevent vehicle accidents through AI-based brain activity monitoring. The Israeli startup has developed AI-based software that detects abnormalities in the cognitive state of drivers and passengers. Read more
Founders on Sofas | A glimpse into a founder’s session: Returning to a creative mindset. It is normal to have these ‘abnormal’ reactions in the tremendously stressful outward environment we find ourselves in. Don’t be hard on yourself about it, rather use these tools to help yourself adapt and retain resilience during this difficult time. Read more
“Women must be at the decision-making table – let’s give them a chance.” As part of Calcalist and Poalim Tech’s series of interviews “Six After War”, Amir Kurtz spoke with Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach, director of the Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center about the role of the health system in the rehabilitation of Israeli society during and after the war. Read more
Israeli high-tech faces existential questions post-war. Unraveling the complex challenges of talent shortages, political uncertainties, and the struggle for global relevance in the wake of recent geopolitical events. Read more
CitrusX raises $4.5 million Seed for AI explainability collaboration platform. The Israeli startup’s platform provides model validation, governance, and monitoring so all stakeholders can make better decisions about machine learning. Read more
Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation collects survivor testimony from October 7. The USC Shoah Foundation is urgently documenting eyewitness accounts of Hamas’ massacres in Israel, aiming to counteract the global surge in antisemitism. The testimony will join their archive of over 56,000 testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Read more
The ousting of Ivy League presidents treats symptom of antisemitism but not disease. While necessary, the resignation of Penn president Liz Magill will be seen as a capitulation to rich and powerful donors and reinforce antisemitic stereotypes. More difficult will be addressing the deep-seeded antisemitism at these institutions. Read more
Opinion | Mobility sector is in flux, and Israeli startups should seize the opportunity. The local ecosystem plays an important and unique role on the global stage, being one of the most innovative mobility ecosystems in the world, even without a single Israeli car manufacturer. It is also capable of remaining resilient under the most challenging circumstances, driving change for the mobility industry worldwide. Read more
Eyes in the skies: NextVision’s founder pilots a new tech frontier. NextVision manufactures tiny cameras for drones and UAVs which have become the eyes of armies around the world. Founder Chen Golan, a former Air Force pilot, tells Calcalist how his small startup has reached a value of $620 million. Read more
Rafael to hire 2,000 amid surge in employees who want to ‘participate in war effort’. Sagit Sela-Gal, Executive VP of Human Resources for Israeli defense company Rafael, speaks about meeting demand during wartime with 20% of employees drafted into the reserves and 250 evacuated from their homes, as well as Rafael’s plans to hire 2,000 new employees in 2024 after exceeding more than NIS 40 billion in sales. Read more
Why Europe’s landmark AI regulations matter. The regulations bar biometric categorization systems, untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage, emotion recognition in the workplace and educational institutions, social scoring based on social behavior, AI systems that manipulate human behavior, and AI used to exploit the vulnerabilities of people. Read more
US fast-tracks $106.5 million tank shell sale to Israel. The State Department used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the about 14,000 tank rounds for immediate delivery to Israel. Read more
Meta’s oversight board ramps up scrutiny on violent content in Israel-Hamas war. The cases will be the first to use a new expedited review mechanism announced earlier this year that requires the board to make decisions within 30 days. Read more
‘Like a scene from a horror movie:’ inside the effort to recover and identify victims of 7/10. The two-month long process to recover and identify the bodies of Hamas’ victims has involved a multi-pronged national effort that includes volunteers from ZAKA, archaeologists and forensic analysts who have spent their days doing this, at times, dangerous, exhausting, sometimes tedious, and always painful but essential work. CTech spoke with three volunteers about their experiences over the last two months. Read more
After losing 99% of its value, hospitality company Selina receives $20 million lifeline from Osprey Investments. Assuming that the agreement is completed, and that Osprey converts the debt into shares and exercises the options for further investment, it will become the controlling owner of Selina. Read more
Group 11 strikes $20 million deal for second fund holdings, including Tipalti, Navan, and Sunbit. Investment firms StepStone Group and Industry Ventures are acquiring a 12% stake in Group 11’s second fund. Read more
“Only high-tech will take the State of Israel out of the place it is in financially.” As part of Calcalist and Poalim Tech’s series of online interviews “Six After War”, Meir Orbach spoke with the former Minister of Science & Technology and entrepreneur Izhar Shay about the future of the startup nation and his son Yaron, a fighter in the Nahal Brigade who fell defending Kerem Shalom on October 7. Read more
Fintech startup Pontera raises $60 million at $550 million valuation. The Israeli company, which makes money by charging a percentage fee to financial advisors who use its platform, said that its annual revenue has quadrupled since 2021. Read more
Acquisitions and IPOs of Israeli startups fall by 56% in 2023 to $7.5 billion. The number of transactions hit a decade low of 45, with their financial scope being the lowest in the last five years. Read more
Tech titans line up: The leading companies ready for blockbuster IPOs in 2024. 2023 was a particularly weak year in terms of IPOs, with only 148 new companies arriving on Wall Street. But the market estimates that 2024 will see a recovery in the field and that huge IPOs are coming. There are also Israeli companies among the candidates to join the club. Read more
VAST Data closes $118 million Series E, nearly triples valuation to $9.1 billion. The Israeli-founded startup surpassed $1 billion in cumulative software bookings and $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the end of Q3, maintaining a positive cash flow for the last 12 quarters. Read more
Nvidia navigates export curbs: CEO Huang reveals collaboration with US government. California-based chip giant seeks compliance amidst new export rules, explores opportunities in Singapore. Read more
Sensorz secures $4.7 million Seed funding for AI-based wireless observability platform. Leveraging advanced algorithms, Sensorz can detect and alert in real time on critical events that affect the quality of wireless networks. Read more
