CTECH – Latest Israeli Innovation and Technology News
JoyTunes joins unicorn club with $50 million round led by Google’s investment arm. The Israeli startup’s revenue in 2020 surged to around $100 million, although the company is still believed to not be profitable. Once that happens, JoyTunes is set to target a Wall Street IPO at a valuation far higher than $1 billion. Read more
Trump’s former Treasury Secretary and Ambassador to Israel are looking to invest in the Startup Nation. Former Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and the former Ambassador, David Friedman have set up a new fund and are seeking out investments in Israeli tech. Read more
DataRails doubles in value, raises an additional $25 million in Series A extension. “The additional investment is a vote of confidence on the part of our investors,” said CEO of the Israeli financial planning company, Didi Gurfinkel. Read more
Tech experts share insights on Israel’s new government. Will new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett give Israel’s tech scene a boost, or will he fail? Read more
SentinelOne targeting lower-than-expected $7 billion valuation in NYSE IPO. The Israeli-founded cybersecurity company plans to sell 32 million shares priced at between $26 and $29 per share, raising $928 million at the top end of the range. Read more
Israeli airborne laser system successfully completes first-ever interception tests. The High-Power Laser system was installed on an aircraft and successfully intercepted and destroyed UAVs. Read more
“We are only on the ground floor of the 5G revolution.” Gil Rosen, Amdocs’ VP of Global Marketing, said at the Calcalist Digital Transformation Conference that “5G was not launched to stream Netflix faster, it was launched because it is a significant technological leap forward.” Read more
Opinion | It’s time technology organizations adopt shift left culture.
“By choosing to give your developers ownership and more and more aspects of the business, you’re allowing them to feel like they’re part of the equation,” writes Leonid Blouvshtein of Lightrun. Read more
How Israeli B2D is storming the market. Companies grow, investors are interested, and the ecosystem is adapting. No wonder the Israeli Business to Developer (B2D) sector is experiencing “a perfect storm.” Read more
“Social media platforms are the bad guys,” says Wisio, aiming to change the creator game. By being the middleman between follower and creator, Wisio hopes to harness the ‘Exclusive Attention’ industry. Read more
Deloitte opens second cohort for Israeli growth-stage startups expanding to U.S. market. The 7-week equity-free program is designed to help Israeli entrepreneurs contend with central challenges they face upon entry to the U.S. market and adjust to the ‘new normal’ in the aftermath of the pandemic. Read more
Israel maintains third place globally in tech, almost overtaking UK.
While Startup Nation hasn’t moved up on the Startup Ecosystem Index Report, its rising score is showing a healthy trend. Read more
U.S. officials pressure Israel on Chinese involvement in light-rail project. Chinese company involved with the project was recently put under a U.S. investment injunction. Israeli Treasury: Discussions on the matter are confidential. Read more
Interview | The bold email that led a young surfer to a CEO role. Or Lenchner’s path to becoming CEO of Bright Data included cleaning toilets, dropping out of school, and telling a company’s founder he did not like its product. Read more
Meet the newest Israeli companies trading on the NYSE and Nasdaq. It’s been an explosive few months for Israeli tech on the world’s stage – let’s take a look at some of the freshest faces. Read more
“About 40% of global public transportation activity has yet to return.” According to Nir Erez, founder and CEO of Moovit, “we are in a period where many processes will be tested and the model will undergo ongoing changes.” Read more
Opinion | Will you have a job in five years? “The spike in automation following the pandemic – and the impact it will have on the world’s workforce – will likely shadow all previous recessions combined,” writes Dan Fishel, Partner at OurCrowd. Read more
פתיחת המסחר היום של ווקמי
Israeli companies on Wall Street reach historic $300 billion market cap landmark. WalkMe became the 85th Israeli company to currently be traded on Nasdaq and NYSE. The market cap of blue-and-white companies on Wall Street has surged by $100 billion since the start of the year. Read more
Claroty secures unicorn status with $140 million funding round. The Israeli industrial cybersecurity company reached a valuation of $1 billion thanks to 133% year-over-year growth in new annual recurring revenue. Read more
Banking-as-a-Service startup Unit announces $51 million Series B led by Accel. Israeli startup launches Unit Go to allow companies and fintechs to build banking products in minutes. Read more
Align Technology prepares to hire 150 Israelis in 2021. The company intends to add to its 500-strong team of employees in the country. Read more
Spotlight | Feelit’s nanotech sticker is awaiting in the pipeline. Israeli startup Feelit’s sensor-sticker can monitor pipes, valves and steam traps. “You can think of our sensors as electronic skin,” says CTO Meital Segev-Bar. Read more
Analysis | Is this the end of Start-Up Nation? Hi-tech may have helped Israel out of the coronavirus crisis, but the sector is also suffering from severe problems. The Israel Innovation Authority’s annual Innovation Report warns that if government policy doesn’t change, local tech could steam ahead and detach itself from the rest of the economy. Read more
Foodtech and agritech startup studio launched in Galilee. “Our goal is to see at least three startups that raise between $2-4 million every year,” said Erel Margalit, Chairman of JVP, which is behind Startup City.Galil. Read more
Opinion | How can startups leverage controversial FDA approval for Alzheimer’s drug? The decision to approve Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug signifies a watershed moment for neurology, highlighting an unprecedented opportunity for neurology-focused startups. Read more
Professional website builder Duda raises $50 million Series D. The Israeli company has seen impressive growth in the past years and there are now one million published websites built by over 17,000 web professionals worldwide on the Duda platform. Read more
Intel unveils its IPU, while on the hunt for new talent. The new device is designed to relieve servers’ CPUs and manage cloud data communication. The company’s Israeli team hopes to recruit at least 50 engineers as soon as possible. Read more
There’s space for improving our world’s infrastructure. Utilis uses space satellites to identify small leaks within exact areas, preventing billions of wasteful activity. Read more
Five Israeli companies named as World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers. The World Economic Forum’s selection of the 100 most promising Technology Pioneers of 2021 included CropX, CHEQ, MDClone, Phinergy, and MyndYou. Read more
Carbyne raises $20 million, four months after closing $25 million Series B. Global Medical Response, the largest private emergency medical services provider in the U.S., led the funding and will also partner with the Israeli startup to develop advanced and widely applicable interactive communication solutions. Read more
Fundbox and Indeed partner to extend growth resources to small businesses. “Our new partnership with Indeed points to our next phase of growth as small businesses rebound in 2021,” said Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox. Read more
Quiet success: Acoustics specialist Silentium raises an additional $20 million in extended series D funding. The company, which has raised over $60 million in total, specializes in active noise control solutions in personal and commercial spaces and eliminating unwanted noise. Read more
Stor.ai partners with Bringg for end-to-end grocery delivery orchestration. The new partnership between the Israeli companies enables individual enterprise retailers to deliver with their own fleets and logistics providers. Read more
Appointments | Ryan Gurney, ex-Googler, joins YL Ventures as CISO-in-Residence. Former Chief Security Officer at Looker, which was acquired by Google, brings customer-centric and early adopter-perspective to support YL Ventures portfolio companies’ expansion. Read more
Opinion | Israel can become the next powerhouse in the food tech industry. In the absence of an active government push, Israel could find itself at the bottom of this race, writes Alla Voldman Rantzer. Read more
Chip startup NextSilicon announces its arrival with over $200 million in funding and an estimated $1.5 billion valuation. The Israeli company, founded just three years ago, has developed an innovative solution to increase the processing power of supercomputers. Read more
Behind the scenes of the digital transformation. CodeValue’s Chief Architect Alon Fliess tells CTech what he advises his clients who are simply stuck in the past. Read more
Crossing borders: From VC to Entrepreneur. CTech spoke to three founders who had their beginnings in venture capital before starting their own companies. Read more
Unicorn AppsFlyer recruiting 300 employees in Israel. The company, valued at $2 billion last year, is aiming to take its local headcount to 1,000 employees to further boost its ability to develop marketing measurement software. Read more
Meron Capital announces new $50 million fund to invest in early-stage Israeli tech. The VC’s inaugural fund launched in 2017 has invested in
16 startups to date, registering four successful exits, with 10 of the startups raising further financing in the excess of $300 million. Read more
nSure.ai raises $6.8 million in Seed to develop AI fraud prevention for digital goods space. The funds will go towards further developing the Israeli startup’s predictive AI and machine learning algorithms that have reduced decline rates from an industry standard of 20% to only 2%. Read more
8fig raises $6.5 million Seed round to help online sellers accelerate their growth. The Israeli startup aims to aid online sellers to reach 8-figures in sales without giving up an equity stake in their business. Read more
