CTECH: Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News April 19, 2024
Cyber decacorn Wiz in advanced negotiation to acquire Lacework for $150-200 million. The companies recently signed a Letter of Intent and are now in the midst of a comprehensive due diligence process. Lacework was valued at $8.3 billion in 2021. Read more
Magnus Metal raises $74 million Series B to digitize metal casting. The Israeli company is innovating the centuries-old metal casting industry by providing an Industry 4.0 based fully automatic manufacturing solution that aims to make the process faster, safer, and environmentally friendly. Read more
The hidden battle for data dominance: AI giants’ secret struggle. The generative artificial intelligence market is engaged in a new competitive race for a particularly critical resource: data. According to estimates, soon the data available online will not keep up with the required pace and there will be nothing to train the models behind services like ChatGTP and Gemini. The obvious solutions: transcribing videos and recordings or a technological development that circumvents the problem. Read more
Google lays off 28 employees for protesting against Israeli cloud contract. “Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior,” the company said in a statement. Read more
Apple’s AI shortcomings put Samsung’s smartphones back in the lead. In the first quarter, iPhone sales fell by 9.6% and Samsung returned to dominate the market. Apple will get an opportunity to show it has reduced gaps at its conference in June, where it will present its AI vision. The obstacle: a Chinese ban on government employees using iPhones. Read more
Cyber unicorn Armis acquiring Silk Security for $150 million. Silk has developed a platform for sustainable cyber risk resolution and raised $12.5 million in Seed funding last August. Read more
AI precision spraying startup Greeneye Technology raises $20 million. Greeneye’s solution, which harnesses AI in combination with cutting-edge hardware to identify weeds among crops with high accuracy and spray chemicals only where they are needed, is proven to reduce herbicide use in farming by 88%. Read more
There’s a new humanoid in town: How does Amnon Shashua’s MenteeBot stack up against the competition? Mentee Robotics, which has raised $17 million to date, was founded in 2022 by Prof. Amnon Shashua, the founder of Mobileye, Prof. Lior Wolf, formerly a research scientist and director at Facebook AI Research, and Prof. Shai Shalev-Shwartz, a world-renowned computer scientist and machine learning researcher. The production-ready prototype is expected to be deployed by Q1 2025 and will be powered by camera-only sensing, proprietary electric motors that support unprecedented dexterity, and fully integrated AI. Read more
Vorlon completes Series A, bringing total funding to $15.7 million for pro-active third-party API security. The company helps organizations manage their third-party API attack surface with AI-driven detection, threat intelligence, and remediation capabilities. Read more
“Despite these nightmare circumstances, founders maintained focus and resilience.” Shahar Tzafrir, Managing Partner at TLV Partners, joined CTech for its 2024 VC Survey to share how the country is combatting an economic and security crisis. Read more
BeyondTrust acquiring permissions management startup Entitle for $100-150 million. The Israeli startup, which raised a $15 million Seed round last February, has developed a privilege management solution that discovers, manages, and automates just-in-time (JIT) access and modern identity governance and administration (IGA) across the entire cloud estate. Read more
Snappy raises $25 million Series D at half its previous valuation. The company, which laid off almost a third of its workforce last January, did not disclose its valuation in the round, but it is estimated to be in the region of $180-200 million, half of the value it received when it raised a $70 million Series C three years ago. Read more
Dot Compliance raises $17.5 million in Series B extension to promote AI-driven compliance. Founded in 2015, Dot Compliance offers a ready-to-use Quality Management System powered by the Salesforce.com platform. Read more
Qumra Capital: “With businesses operating more efficiently, the coming year holds promise for investors.” Managing General Partner Boaz Dinte joined CTech for its 2024 VC Survey to discuss how the country is recovering from an economic downturn and war. Read more
Bridgewise nets $21 million Series A for AI-based analysis platform for global securities. The startup’s platform provides a suite of products that include detailed AI generated reports and on-demand analysis of any financial instrument or security. Read more
From Arrow to Iron Dome: The economics of Israel’s air defense strategy. How much did it actually cost Israel to shoot down Iran’s flood of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and suicide drones? Read more
Bank of Israel Governor: “There’s an economic price for the changing sentiment in the world towards Israel.” Prof. Amir Yaron estimates that the Israeli economy will recover from the war relatively quickly, but emphasizes the need for investments in infrastructure and human capital, and does not rule out raising taxes to strengthen the economy. According to him, a necessary condition for long-term growth is the integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the labor market. Read more
From high-tech to sales floor: Tech veterans find new paths amid job market turmoil. Amid the economic downturn brought on by global layoffs, inflation, last year’s judicial overhaul, and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, many high-tech workers have been unable to find work in their field and have been forced to take menial positions. Read more
“There are no borders in cyberspace. We have to fight global terrorism together.” In 2024, cyberattacks threaten our infrastructures and institutions during wartime and election seasons. It’s time for global cooperation and a shared language in cyberspace, says Gaby Portnoy, Director General at Israel National Cyber Directorate. Read more
“Corporations and investors recognize Israel’s value as a technology and innovation powerhouse.” Moran Chamsi, Managing Partner and Co-founder at Amplefields Investments, joined CTech to discuss the state of the Israeli VC space in 2024. Read more
99% interception success rate: Behind Israel’s multi-layered air defense system that thwarted Iran. Iran launched over 300 aerial threats, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. Israel intercepted the vast majority of them. The operation, which lasted several hours, is estimated to have cost over a billion dollars. Read more
Cyber on fire: Cybersecurity sector is breaking away from high-tech industry. An arms race between the cyber giants, along with the disruption created by AI, is raising company valuations, resulting in improved exits and funding rounds. Read more
Gigi Levy-Weiss: “If we do not push to establish as many new companies as possible this year, we will pay for it for many years to come.” Levy-Weiss, General Partner at NFX, was speaking on a panel at Calcalist’s AIsrael 2024 event held in collaboration with Microsoft. According to MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Chairman of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence and former Minister of Innovation: “I am very concerned, despite the rate of development of AI and the enormous challenges in the field, the government is not on top of it.” Read more
“The IDF needs to change its defense concepts and incorporate more AI tools.” Talya Gazit, partner and CEO of PwC Next and former head of “Mamram”, the IDF technology and cyber defense unit, was speaking on a panel on cyber at the AIsrael conference. Also participating were Liran Grinberg, founder and managing partner of Team8, Ami Luttwak, co-founder and VP of Technologies at Wiz, and Itamar Golan, founder and CEO, Prompt Security. Read more
“Israel is a beacon for the world of advanced technology and AI in health.” Prof. Ran Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer at Clalit Health Services was speaking at the AIsrael conference on a panel on the impact of the AI revolution on the world of medicine. Prof. Eyal Zimlichman, Chief Transformation Officer & Chief Innovation Officer at Sheba Medical Center: “At the national level, the next decade must be dedicated to the field of artificial intelligence in healthcare.” Read more
