CTECH Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News June 28, 2023
Cybersecurity startup Cyera secures $100 million Series B at $500 million valuation. The Israeli company’s data security platform learns an enterprise’s unique data and business purpose, and uses large language models to automatically discover, classify, and secure sensitive data. Read more
How did the CEO of Insight Partners-backed startup Joonko raise $38 million with false figures? Ilit Raz is being accused by the board of having “engaged in egregious, unethical and fraudulent conduct” after an investigation found that she allegedly misled investors regarding the company’s actual number of paying customers. Read more
Israeli startup funding increased more than fivefold over the past decade, totaling $95 billion. The Israel Innovation Authority’s “The State of High Tech” annual report revealed that in 2022 the high-tech sector accounted for 18.1% of Israel’s GDP. Read more
NoTraffic nabs $50 million Series B for autonomous traffic management platform. The Israeli startup aims to digitize the backbone of transportation by reconfiguring signalized city intersections into one fully automated, cloud-connected hub. Read more
Hospitality company Selina sacks 350 employees as it continues to bleed cash. The Israeli-founded company went public in October through a SPAC merger at a valuation of $1.2 billion, but currently has a market cap of around just $120 million. Read more
Anzu completes $48 million Series B for in-game advertising solution. The Israeli startup’s intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse, aims to help advertisers reach audiences programmatically in a non-disruptive and engaging way. Read more
Joonko on verge of shock closure; Board claims CEO misled investors. According to a statement from the Joonko board, CEO Ilit Raz “was found to have engaged in egregious, unethical and fraudulent conduct, which caused harm to the company and its shareholders.” Joonko raised a $25 million Series B last September led by Insight Partners, with support from Target Global. Read more
“My first job interview was two weeks after giving birth; a month later I started working.” Racheli Ganot, CEO and founder of the Ready Group, says that flexibility in the high-tech industry makes it very suitable for women. Read more
Pagaya’s credit fund registers worst-ever monthly loss. During a conference call with investors, the fund’s representatives explained that the 4.9% negative return in May stemmed from loans issued at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. Read more
Opinion | Betting the bank on GenAI, is it worth it? Navigating opportunities and limitations on generative AI within financial services – without the hype. Read more
“Water infrastructure is often our first line of defense in dealing with climate change.” Patrick Decker, the CEO of Xylem, spoke to Calcalist about how the water crisis will impact society and international commerce. Read more
Eight Roads: “We will invest $500 million in Israel in the coming years.” “In 2021, everyone was driven by greed rather than value. However, 2023 presents a good opportunity to build large companies during challenging times,” added Davor Hebel, Managing Partner at Eight Roads, the VC firm backed by Fidelity. Read more
Israeli cyber startups to watch: Unveiling five top innovators. DevOcean, Gem, Oligo Security, OneLayer, and Zenity were highlighted by prominent investors as five of Israel’s most promising cybersecurity startups. Read more
NVision Imaging raises $30 million Series A to bring quantum physics to MRIs. The Israeli-founded startup’s MRI polarizers aim to provide faster and more accurate cancer diagnosis and treatment assessment. Read more
“Hackers are not interested in the recession. They just continue to attack and are becoming more and more sophisticated.” Arik Kleinstein, Founding Managing Partner of Glilot Capital, was speaking as part of a panel in ‘The Next Big Thing’ series alongside Panorays CTO Demi Ben-Ari, Dina Pasca-Raz, Head of Technology at KPMG Israel, and Yair Snir, Managing Partner at Dell Technologies Capital. Read more
Meta leaving its office space in Azrieli tower in Tel Aviv in apparent cutback move. The company will move out of its 12 floors in Azrieli Sarona Tower in 2025 and will move to the Landmark Tower in Tel Aviv, in which it is also set to rent out 7 of the 20 floors it has leased. Read more
“The growth market is shut across every single geography in the world. It is shut.” Eric Reiner, Founder and Managing Partner at Vine Ventures, spoke with CTech as part of its most recent project “Where do we go from here?”, aiming to examine how the Israeli VC industry is dealing with the crisis in the sector. Read more
AgTech startup N-Drip announces $44 million Series C for irrigation innovation. The Israeli company’s gravity-powered micro-irrigation system helps farmers irrigate more precisely and efficiently. Read more
“AI takes human capabilities and supercharges them.” Itzik Ben-Bassat, CEO of theGist and an advisor to Insight Partners founder Jeff Horing, is optimistic the power of AI can be leveraged for good. Read more
Record $6.4 billion invested in carbon capture tech, but challenges and controversies persist. Amid growing concerns, carbon capture technologies receive unprecedented funding, yet efficacy and viability remain uncertain. Read more
“In the past you had to be public to be a large company, but that’s no longer the case. There are enormous private companies.” Pantheon Ventures has launched a new partnership with Israeli investment house Altshuler Shaham as it aims to draw more wealthy Israelis into private equity investments. Read more
“51% is not a niche”: Startup studio impact.51 on mission to revolutionize FemTech. Co-founders of impact.51, Michal Shalem and Michal Lebenthal Andreson, spoke to CTech about establishing the first studio in the world focused exclusively on women’s health solutions. Read more
Saudi Arabia’s $38 billion gamble: Kingdom invests heavily in gaming industry to fuel economic diversification. As part of the plan to reduce dependency on oil, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is overseeing a massive investment in gaming. Read more
The sound of silence: Electric vehicle manufacturers innovating with sound. Manufacturers are being required to add sound to their cars for safety reasons, and are doing so creatively. Read more
Michigan Israel Business Accelerator launches new hub designed to woo Israelis. MIBA recently unveiled “The Elevator” as the first landing zone exclusively for Israeli startups in the U.S. Read more
Salesforce, Adobe shares primed for further gains thanks to AI. The future convergence of the cloud and AI is expected to propel the market forward, allowing cloud service providers to offer AI services as subscriptions. Read more
