CTECH Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News Jan. 19, 2023
She-VC | “I get asked if my partner is the one making the decisions or whether the money comes from my parents.” Liron Azrielant, Managing Partner at Meron Capital, is one of the few female partners to have founded her own venture capital fund. This is her unique story of success. Read more
Pagaya confirms layoff of 20% of workforce, 140 employees. The fintech company, which became Israel’s highest-valued company for a short time last year, expects to save $30 million a year from the cutbacks. Read more
Quantum Machines raises $20 million as adoption of solutions grows. The Israeli company announced that its customer base has grown sharply over the past year, reaching more than 280 quantum computing facilities worldwide. Read more
CyberArk founder’s new startup nsKnox raises $17 million. The Israeli fintech-security startup enables corporations and banks to prevent fraud and ensure compliance in B2B payments. Read more
myInterview raises $11 million in Series A to help employers attract Gen Z talent. The news comes at the same time the company announces the appointment of Amalia Bercot as co-CEO. Read more
aiOla raises $25 million to interface natural language to AI solutions in traditional manufacturing. The Israeli startup has developed state-of-the-art voice and image recognition combined with advanced AI models to digitize, automate and streamline inspection processes. Read more
World’s largest reinsurer to insure Israeli startup’s algorithm. Israeli company FUGU has created a solution designed to deal with complex e-commerce frauds and has insured it through Munich Re. Read more
2022 VC Survey | How will the recent layoffs shape the tech world in 2023? Israeli Mapped Ventures Managing Partner Guy Franklin joined CTech for its 2022 VC Survey to discuss all things tech as we settle into a year of uncertainty. Read more
Israeli AI startups to watch out for in 2023. As part of CTech’s 2022 VC survey, we asked dozens of industry executives to name some startups they invested in over the past year. The following list highlights some of the notable AI startups suggested by their investors. Read more
She-Inspires | “I always feel my work is like my entertainment. I have fun, that is the secret.” Sara Lev, Head of Technion Startup MBA, has paved her way creating opportunities wherever she could, from entrepreneurship to leading a new program at the Technion. Read more
TLV Partners: “If Israel’s democracy is harmed, the hi-tech industry will wither or flee abroad.” “We say these things with a heavy heart and great pain, and we hold hope that the destructive actions will be stopped before it’s too late,” wrote partners Rona Segev, Shahar Tzafrir, Adi Yarel Toledano and Eitan Bek. Read more
Elbit reaches $450 million in 2023 deals with latest contract. Since the start of the year, the defense giant has landed deals to supply advanced electro-optical systems, rockets for armed forces, as well as the operating and maintaining of simulation centers for the Israeli Air Force’s F-16 fleet and the IDF’s Armored Corps. Read more
Charismatic technology – the connection between politics and the high-tech sector. In the Startup Nation, the government adopts technological solutions for any problem that may arise, and reaches a position of power of the kind that leads to a political-administrative crisis. Read more
Gifting platform Snappy sacking 30% of its workforce, around 100 employees. “Unfortunately, we must make extremely painful choices in order to orient Snappy’s financial profile toward sustainable growth and profitability,” wrote CEO Hani Goldstein. Read more
2022 VC Survey | “Generative AI is the latest buzz in the VC industry and will attract investors’ attention in 2023.” Qualcomm Ventures predicts that not all is doom and gloom when looking ahead at the potential in the next year. Read more
Technion and Pfizer sign agreement to boost drug development with AI. The Technion aims to advance technological and medical developments by identifying new technologies and various digital tools with potential industrial application. Read more
Prisma Photonics to monitor more than 1,000 km of Israel’s national electric grid. As part of its agreement with the Israel Electric Corporation, the startup’s system will alert on events occurring on the network and enhance the ability to incorporate renewable energy into the existing grid. Read more
American Express acquiring Israeli B2B payments automation company Nipendo. The Israeli company’s platform allows businesses to connect, communicate, and automate Procure-to-Pay processes. Read more
Freud is turning over in his grave: Can ChatGPT be used as a psychologist? There is nothing more worthless than offering mental help by a bot. In order to test if it was possible, the entrepreneur Rob Morris decided to conduct an “experiment” on teenagers in need with ChatGPT. His poor judgment ended up proving why not everything can or should be attempted to be solved with technology. Read more
Opinion | ChatGPT and its perilous use as a “Force Multiplier” for cyberattacks. The new AI tool can significantly lower the bar for threat actors to carry out sophisticated attacks, potentially setting the industry back several years, writes David Warshavski, VP of Enterprise Security at Sygnia. Read more
How can high-tech profit from the crisis. “This crisis will improve the efficiency of the companies. You need to have a shake-up once in a while,” says serial entrepreneur Ofer Bengal. Is this crisis a necessary step for Israeli high-tech to reach maturity? Read more
Mapping Israeli open source startups. While open source software has been around for decades, recent years have ushered in a new era of Commercial Open Source (COSS) companies – businesses generating billions of dollars in revenue on top of an open source core. This success has not gone unnoticed in Startup Nation, where a new wave of Israeli open source companies is taking shape. Read more
Nine Israeli health startups selected to Google’s Growth Academy. The local companies from the fields of medicine and quality of life are joining the first cohort of the tech giant’s program. Read more
Coho AI collects $8.5 million in Seed to help companies leverage their SaaS data. Its platform helps visualize, analyze, prioritize, and act on real-life triggers to help companies leverage the data collected by SaaS products and identify growth opportunities. Read more
Opinion | What threatens Israeli high-tech in 2023? Start-Up Nation Policy Institute (SNPI) CEO – Uri Gabai, and SNPI Chief Economist – Dr. Assaf Patir, present the risks and challenges of the tech industry for 2023. Read more
2022 VC Survey | VC crystal ball 2023: Crypto and HR-tech – out; Generative Tech and Climatech – in. What sectors in high-tech should we look out for in the coming year – and why? Israel’s leading VCs reveal where they will be putting their money in 2023. Read more
Fintech unicorn Tipalti lays off 123 employees, 11% of team. Tipalti raised $270 million at an $8.3 valuation in December 2021. Read more
Pagaya preparing to part with over 100 employees, 15% of workforce. The fintech company, which became Israel’s highest-valued company for a short time last year, employs 650 people and announced its first acquisition on Wednesday, purchasing proptech platform Darwin Homes. Read more
Did REE hide a $5.2 billion lawsuit from its shareholders? Attorney Ziv Ironi submitted a request for disclosure of documents on behalf of shareholders, after the autotech company, which has lost 96% of its value since its IPO in 2021, did not report a lawsuit filed against it in the US in December by OSR alleging theft of technology. Read more
She-VC | “In a startup you are selling a product, as VCs we are selling ourselves.” Sharin Fisher, Partner at Fort Ross Ventures, explains why it is important to build your network and shares how she did so on her journey to success. Read more
2022 VC Survey | “We have a generation of founders and VCs who are facing a hard time for the first time.” J-Ventures Group has joined CTech for its 2022 VC Survey series to share predictions for 2023. Read more
Traveltech startup Hotelmize raises $12 million Series B. The Israeli company has developed a sales optimization platform for tourism companies. Read more
“There is no slowdown in AI, especially Generative Tech.” Or Lenchner, CEO of Bright Data, was speaking on a panel with Joel Bar-El, executive chairman of Trax Retail, and Dr. Omri Allouche, head of research at Gong, with the three sharing how they utilize AI, how it optimizes processes, and discussed what the future holds for Generative Tech. Read more
“There is a race to build the first useful quantum computer.” “Organizations are preparing for tomorrow. They develop software, run it on a relatively small scale, and when the moment comes, they will expand its use,” added Nir Minerbi, CEO of Classiq Technologies, speaking on a panel with Gil Semo, VP of development at Quantum Source, Dr. Ruti Ben Shlomi, CEO of LightSolver, and Dr. Tomer Simon, chief scientist at Microsoft Israel’s R&D center. Read more
