CTECH: Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News July 1, 2024
Wiz leads Israeli tech to its best quarter of funding in two years. Even without the $1 billion funding round by the cyber decacorn, local startups raised over $1.9 billion, the most since the fourth quarter of 2022. Read more
“Salesforce is committed to Israel. We leave politics out of the company.” Meir Amiel, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of C360 Applications at Salesforce, was called back to the company following the generative AI revolution. He believes Israel can be a technological leader in this field. According to him, the development center in Israel is strategic for Salesforce and will continue to grow. Read more
Call of Dudi: Inside the mind and life of a tech multimillionaire. From a humble upbringing in Israel to Wall Street to London, and ultimately becoming a multimillionaire, David (Dudi) Gershon continually sets his sights higher. Now, he claims his new app will eliminate the need for physical cash. Read more
Reviving Israel’s AI edge requires strategic investments and attracting top talent. “We must act swiftly to prioritize AI and leverage our unique strengths to remain competitive on the global stage,” writes lool Ventures’ Managing Partner Yaniv Golan. Read more
War can’t stop Israeli cyber growth. Israeli cyber startups raised $2.9 billion between January and mid-June, compared to $1.9 billion in all of 2023 and $3.2 billion in 2022. There were also 12 exits in early 2024, compared to 21 in 2023, 16 in 2022, and a record 35 in 2021, according to a report by YL Ventures. Read more
“Intel is the only Western company that manufactures silicon chips with the most advanced technology and this is an opportunity.” Karin Eibschitz Segal, VP at Intel, added that “Intel’s uniqueness in AI is that it is one of the only companies in the world that has a full portfolio—meaning the ability to develop end-to-end solutions.” Read more
Illumex raises $13 million Seed round for enterprise GenAI platform. The platform acts as an intermediate layer that reconciles data silos and automatically adds context and meaning to data. Read more
Bright Machines bags $126 million Series C one month after closing Israeli R&D center. The company, headed by Israeli CEO and founder, Lior Susan, laid off 60 of 68 employees in Israel, with the rest relocating to San Francisco. Read more
X adds Stripe identification services – at the expense of Israeli AU10TIX. The social media company now uses U.S-based Stripe following user concerns about privacy and alleged links to Israeli intelligence agencies. AU10TIX: we do not disclose information about our customers. Read more
Sensi.AI raises $31 million Series B for elderly care platform after loss of key team member in war. The Israeli startup’s audio-based solution enables elderly individuals to continue living at home rather than being hospitalized. Yuval Halivni, the company’s data operations lead, was killed on October 9th while serving in the reserves. Read more
Fetcherr nets $90 million for GenAI pricing engine. The Algo based company developed an agnostic AI-driven market engine and aims to disrupt traditional legacy revenue systems through deep learning methodologies, beginning with the airline industry. Read more
Israel to build cutting-edge supercomputer, boosting AI capabilities. The Israel Innovation Authority’s CEO noted that of Israel’s 9,000 startups, more than 2,200 use AI and Israel – with 73 – has the third most generative AI firms in the world. Read more
eBay to lay off dozens of employees in Israel amid global restructuring. This is the third round of layoffs for the company in Israel and the fourth worldwide, with one round previously bypassing Israel. In the previous round, an estimated 30 employees were fired. Read more
Verbit appoints Yair Amsterdam as permanent CEO, focuses on AI and growth. “We have growth plans and have reduced our cash burn rate, so we do not need to raise capital in the near future. We will consider raising capital only at the beginning of next year if the business plan shows results,” said Amsterdam, who served as Acting CEO since February following the departure of founder Tom Livne. Read more
JFrog enhancing AI capabilities with $230 million acquisition of Qwak. The all-Israeli deal will allow JFrog to enhance its machine learning model capabilities and enable users to streamline models from development to deployment. Read more
Google inks record-breaking $300 million Tel Aviv rental deal. The largest office rental agreement in Israeli history will see the tech giant rent approximately 60,000 square meters in the ToHa2 tower in Tel Aviv, set to open in 2027. Read more
Israel to use Musk’s Starlink as internet backup in case of all-out war. Ministries are preparing to utilize Starlink’s 5,000 low-orbit satellites to ensure stable data and information flow for state authorities during emergencies. Read more
Top 5 Israeli high-tech fundraising rounds in the first half of 2024. Wiz, Axonius, Island, WEKA, and Silverfort all caught our eyes with their large fundraising announcements this year. Read more
Perion embarks on layoffs after revenue takes hit. The software company is eliminating 35 jobs to cut costs following Microsoft’s decision to change its advertising rules on Bing. Read more
Submarine-gate commission: Netanyahu “endangered the security of Israel and harmed its economic interests.” The commission sent five warning notices to parties who may be harmed by the investigation into the purchase of submarines from Germany. Besides Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, former Mossad head Yossi Cohen, former Navy Commander Ram Rothberg, and Avner Simchoni, who worked at the Mossad, also received warnings. Read more
eHealth Ventures launches fast-track pre-Seed investment program for health tech companies. The VC promises answers within 3 weeks, including a term sheet, and investment up to 3.5 million NIS within 3 months. Read more
Hezbollah’s suicide drones zero in on Israel’s weapons industry. Hezbollah continues to demonstrate that its target bank in Israel is extensive, diverse, and well within its reach. This is particularly concerning for the defense system, as it impacts the availability of armaments crucial for the IDF to sustain a prolonged campaign. Read more
“A CEO has to be a doctor, politician, parent, and economic advisor.” As part of Calcalist and Poalim Tech’s Growth+ project, Noam Schwartz from ActiveFence and Shlomit Steinberg Koch from Predicta Med discussed how to turn managers into leaders. Read more
Opinion – How can we fight AI – with AI. While AI brings with it a new set of threats and security challenges, Dazz CEO and co-founder Merav Bahat maintains it is precisely what will take the cyber industry to the next level. Read more
