CTECH – Latest Israeli Innovation & Tech News Sept. 2026
ServiceNow acquires Israeli AI startup Sweep in deal estimated at hundreds of millions. The acquisition adds another Israeli company to ServiceNow’s rapidly expanding AI portfolio and comes less than two months after its purchase of ai.work. Sweep has raised $46 million in disclosed funding and builds AI agents that can work across enterprise platforms including ServiceNow, Salesforce and HubSpot. Read more
Assaf Rappaport invests in Guardio at $1.1 billion valuation as consumer cyber hits $150 million ARR. The Wiz co-founder joined a $40 million round in the Israeli cybersecurity company, which has surpassed one million paying customers and recorded more than 100% annual revenue growth for four consecutive years. CEO Amos Peled says AI is creating a once-in-a-generation opportunity in consumer security. Read more
Omri Casspi raises $250 million after big wins with Cognition, Wonderful and Upwind. Swish Ventures’ latest fund brings its assets under management to $800 million, after investments in nine companies that have already reached unicorn status. Read more
The 48 hours that rewrote Israel’s startup rankings. Wonderful, Upwind and HiBob all revealed sharply higher price tags this week, while one rising star may already be on its way out the door. Read more
Palo Alto’s CEO invested in the startup his company just bought for $500 million. Console was valued at $157 million in its latest funding round before Palo Alto acquired it for a reported $500 million. Nikesh Arora was among the startup’s early investors, alongside Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, which led both of its funding rounds. Read more
LivePerson, once worth $4.7 billion, agrees to $43 million sale to SoundHound. The digital customer service pioneer is ending its run as an independent company after a 99% collapse in its market value. SoundHound will acquire the company and its remaining customers while gaining access to its digital voice technology. Read more
Wonderful raises $550 million at $5 billion valuation just six months after $2 billion round. The Israeli enterprise AI startup has now raised more than $800 million since its founding in early 2025, as it expands into more than 35 markets and grows to about 650 employees. Read more
Upwind raises $300 million, more than doubles valuation to $3.8 billion in five months. The Israeli cloud security company was valued at $1.5 billion when it raised $250 million in January, and has since attracted fresh backing from Bessemer Venture Partners, TCV, Salesforce Ventures and other prominent investors. Read more
PayPal lays off dozens in Israel as it cuts 20% of global workforce. The Israeli cuts are part of a worldwide restructuring launched under new CEO Enrique Lores. PayPal plans to eliminate about 4,760 jobs over two to three years as it seeks to simplify operations and save $1.5 billion annually. Read more
Blackstone leads $27 million investment in Israeli cyber startup Huskeys. Huskeys is developing an agentic AI layer for web application firewalls, arguing that security infrastructure built decades ago needs to be redesigned for a world in which AI agents increasingly act online. Read more
AITAN raises $41 million to take Israeli combat drone technology global. The company, whose systems have been used by Israeli forces since October 7, has accumulated more than 500,000 operational flight hours. Its new funding will help expand technology developed through combat experience in Israel to the country’s allies. Read more
Israel Aerospace Industries’ IPO faces a race against time over its closely guarded secrets. Regulators and the defense establishment are trying to reconcile IAI’s obligation to investors with the need to protect classified information. The outcome could determine whether the state-owned company proceeds toward an IPO or loses its status as a reporting corporation. Read more
Salesforce leads $166 million investment in HiBob, valuing Israeli HR tech company at $3.2 billion. The Bob developer says its platform can provide the workforce data, organizational context and permissions needed to deploy AI tools and agents inside companies. Read more
Six-month-old AIR Security raises $50 million to build a firewall for AI agents. The Israeli startup emerged from stealth with research showing thousands of AI add-ons rely on untrusted sources, as companies give autonomous agents access to more data, tools and systems. Read more
Israeli drone maker XTEND hits NYSE this week at $1.5 billion valuation despite widening losses. XTEND has deployed 12,500 systems worldwide and is winning defense contracts, but its $5.8 million first-quarter revenue remains a fraction of the figures it once projected for 2026. Read more
DataAgent emerges from stealth with $10 million pre-Seed to build self-healing infrastructure. The Israeli startup is taking aim at the cost and complexity of observability by putting autonomous agents directly inside production environments. Read more
Vega: “An attacker only needs one vulnerability, defending is an endless chase.” Eran Ayalon, Head of Research at Vega Security, describes how knowledge sharing and collaboration make Israel the spearhead of the global cyber world, as part of CTech’s Security Researchers series. Read more
Israeli photonic computing startup LightSolver to go public through CollPlant acquisition. The deal brings LightSolver’s laser-based computing architecture into a Nasdaq-listed company as it moves from research and testing toward commercial deployment. Read more
The AI bomb ticking under Israel’s economic miracle – and what could stop it from going off. According to an international study by Deutsche Bank, Israel’s economy is among the world’s most exposed to AI disruption, with a highly AI-exposed labor market and high-tech service exports accounting for 8% of GDP. How Israel navigates the AI revolution will determine whether it emerges as a major loser – or winner. Read more
SAP names Michal Romi Managing Director of its Israeli R&D center. Romi will succeed Orna Kleinmann, who is moving to a senior global role overseeing AI activities for SAP’s cloud platform. Read more
SentinelOne’s $24.4 million restructuring charge hits profits as AI security ARR triples. The cybersecurity company raised its full-year revenue outlook to more than $1.2 billion, but cut its earnings forecast after recording higher restructuring costs. Israeli acquisition Prompt Security is emerging as one of the fastest-growing parts of its AI security business. Read more
Facing talent shortage – Israel launches NIS 5 million program to bring AI experts home. The program seeks to accelerate the integration of experts and entrepreneurs from abroad into Israel’s tech ecosystem, focusing on two main tracks: identifying experts overseas and encouraging multinational companies to expand their R&D operations in Israel. Read more
Israel and Greece sign €3 Billion air defense deal, largest in bilateral defense trade. “Achilles Shield” deal, under which Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will establish a multi-layered air defense network for Greece is the largest defense export agreement ever signed between Israel and Greece, and one of the largest arms deals in the country’s history. Read more
Echo acquires operations of competitor Minimus. After Minimus decided to end its independent operations, Echo acquired the technology and customer operations of the company in a cash deal valued at a few million dollars. Read more
Oak Security: “The change of the industry made us enter an ocean of uncharted waters.” Oryan Perlmutter, Head of Security Research at Oak, describes the necessity of automating “boots work” in a highly competitive landscape, as part of CTech’s Security Researchers series. Read more
“Security has to evolve at the same speed as the agents themselves.” Eyal Alkalay, CIO at Verbit, joined CTech to share his thoughts on agentic AI security, and why speed, access, and scale, not slower adoption, are the real risks to watch. Read more
Dell Foundation grants NIS 170 million in scholarships to periphery’s young tech leaders. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and The Council for Higher Education will provide tuition funding and a stipend to 1,500 young people from groups underrepresented in academia, and will accompany them from the preparatory stage to professional integration in high-tech. Read more
93% of Ben Gurion Airport flights delayed an average of 90 minutes. After last week’s chaos, another wave of more than 100,000 passengers is expected to pass through Ben Gurion Airport today. Arkia recorded an average delay of 116 minutes this week, and Bluebird led with two hours and 40 minutes; in Terminal 3 the average delay reached 94 minutes. Read more
Insight Partners: “The adaptability that characterizes Israeli founders remains an advantage.” Teddie Wardi, Insight Partners Managing Director, joined CTech for its 2026 International VC Survey. Read more
Orca: “The attack surface is evolving faster than the security models around it.” Roi Nisimi, Security Researcher at Orca Security, details the discovery of a vulnerability that exposed hundreds of thousands of Google cloud clusters, as part of CTech’s Security Researchers series. Read more
Disappointing exit for fruits & vegetables quality testing tech company SCiO. Israeli agritech company CropX acquires startup SCiO to expand its platform capabilities for analyzing the quality and composition of agricultural produce throughout the entire growing cycle. Read more
Mossad, Shin Bet lead the pack: Inside Israel’s security sector salary report. Against the backdrop of nearly three years of war on multiple fronts, mounting pressure on Israel’s security services has driven demand for more personnel — from combat soldiers to technology and intelligence professionals — as well as longer hours of active duty. Read more
Defense Ministry demands NIS 30 million from Aerodrome for tender failure. The Ministry of Defense sent a warning before a lawsuit – the company announced that it would refuse to pay the compensation; Aerodrome won a tender in 2024 worth NIS 73 million, but did not meet the terms of supplying the drones to which it had committed; Aerodrome’s stock has jumped 337% this year amid changes in management and control of the company. Read more
