CTECH: Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News Mar. 7, 2023
Verizon Ventures shuts down Israel operations. Eyal Mamistvalov, Principal at Verizon Ventures, revealed that “the company’s new strategy is to primarily focus on the U.S. market.” Verizon Ventures invested in 13 Israeli startups during its five years of operations in Israel. Read more
She-VC | “Dare to dream, it is the catalyst that starts everything.” Shay Doron, Principal at AnD Ventures, excelled on the basketball court, becoming Israel’s first WNBA player. The teamwork and comradery that made her one of the country’s most successful basketball players also ultimately led her to an early-stage fund. Read more
Nightmare on Wall Street: Hub Security’s value plummets after SPAC merger. The cyber company’s promises to issue on the Nasdaq at a value of $1.3 billion seem like a distant memory after its share price collapsed by more than 37% within three trading days, to a market cap of $157 million. Read more
“When you come to the table without ego, you can set processes in motion.” Anat Guetta, Chairperson of the Israel Securities Authority, added that she believes “in the power of the individual to change reality and when the data is transparent, the call to action is clear.” Amalia Avramov of Amdocs noted: “In high-tech, the forces of innovation create a drive to create more equality.” Read more
“Government needs to create an environment that allows women to succeed.” Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business and Trade in the UK Government and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities, spoke at the Yazamiyot event for women entrepreneurs and said, “A level playing field brings more jobs, increases wages and grows the economy.” At the event, three startups led by women were selected to participate in Calcalist’s Mind the Tech London conference later this month. Read more
“Women are looking for an alternative to create something which is more solid and more sustainable.” Tsofit Gordon, CEO at Yozmot Atid, spoke to CTech about how the NGO boosts business opportunities for women in challenging times. Watch full video
“Women have an amazing ability of endurance. We’re fighting our way up.” Lilach Romano, VP of HR at Papaya Gaming, joined CTech to discuss the ability that women have in the workplace and society in general. Watch full video
CTalk | “OpenAI will accelerate women to achieve more in every company.” Dana Alexandrovich, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft Israel, spoke to CTech about how technology can help elevate women across a variety of industries. Watch full video
“The workplace should believe in the ability of women to bring something different.” Or Zano, General Manager at Yango Delivery, joined CTech to share some tips about balancing work and family. Watch full video
Click-Ins raises $7.5 million to examine damage caused to vehicles through smartphone images. The Israeli company’s technology allows users to quickly scan the vehicle using their smartphone camera and to create a detailed report about the vehicle’s condition. Read more
Round B | Demonstration nation: Business unusual. Concerned for Israel’s future in light of the government’s pending judicial coup, for many in Israel’s high-tech world, including Shaul Olmert, protesting while working has become the new normal. Read more
“This is not the country I dreamed of and felt I was building.” Ofra Strauss, Chairperson of the Strauss Group, noted that the Israeli government has forgotten “to enact laws in our favor, for women’s equality.” Read more
Not so hot for Climatech: Governmental budget cuts paint bleak picture. The budget of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Energy is set to be cut in half, harming startups and academic research in the fields of renewable energy. Global warming is almost of no interest to the current government, and entrepreneurs in the field express concern for the future of Israeli climatech. Read more
Payoneer eyeing return to profit through focus on larger SMBs. The fintech company’s revenues in 2022 jumped by 30% to $627.6 million and it expects to cross $800 million this year. Read more
Tnuva building industrial cultured meat manufacturing facility. Israeli company Plurinuva, which is rebranding under the name Ever After Foods and is owned by Tnuva and Pluristem, is building the plant that is meant to lead to lower production prices, one of the main barriers currently holding back the industry. Read more
Elbit closing on $1 billion in deals in 2023 with latest contracts. “We are witnessing a trajectory of an increased demand for advanced artillery solutions from militaries around the world, including European countries and NATO members,” said Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems. Read more
Opinion | AI tools developed by white-collar workers now being turned against them. The swift dismissal of 12,000 Google employees sparked fears that AI was involved in the process. “When white-collar workers dedicate their lives to building tools designed to monitor, control, sort, and decide people’s lives, they shouldn’t be surprised when those same tools are turned against them.” Read more
Intel VP warns: “We must stop the madness. We are a moment away from high-tech disappearing from here.” Tzahi Weisfeld, Intel Vice President and GM of the company’s Ignite startup program, who emphasized that he is not speaking on behalf of Intel but only on his own behalf, candidly voices his opinions about the dangers of the impending judicial coup: “In the last few weeks, something in me broke, and I’m not alone. I know I’m jeopardizing my professional future, but the future of my children is more important.” Read more
She-VC | “You cannot be successful in business if you are not involved in your community.” Yodfat Harel Buchris, Managing Director at Blumberg Capital, has seen and done it all and her message is clear: “lead by example and don’t forget those who were there on your way up because you will meet them on your way down.” Read more
Nike shuts down Israel R&D center, lays off entire team. The footwear and clothing giant set up an R&D center in Israel following the acquisition of Tel Aviv-based fashion technology startup Invertex in 2018. Read more
Hexa raises $20.5 million Series A for 3D asset visualization and management platform. The Israeli startup’s tech stack digitizes products like furniture and fashion using existing 2D images and AI, and creates a new 3D model, a digital twin of the physical object. Read more
Qwak nets $12 million investment for machine learning platform. The Israeli startup’s ML platform allows data science and ML engineering teams to continuously build, train, and deploy ML models and features to production at scale. Read more
The story behind the Israeli startup that developed one of the world’s most popular sports results apps. The 365Scores application has more than 20 million users around the world who have received more than a billion notifications from it – mainly about the results of their favorite team. Read more
NSO co-founders tighten grip on company amid legal battle. While the legal discussion continues on the competence of the company’s newly appointed directors, NSO shares were pledged to a holding company solely owned by NSO founder Omri Lavie. Read more
Opinion | Is AI deciding who gets laid off? The swift dismissal of 12,000 Google employees sparked fears that AI was involved. “When white-collar workers dedicate their lives to building tools designed to monitor, control, sort, and decide people’s lives, they shouldn’t be surprised when those same tools are turned against them.” Read more
Noname Security in negotiations to be acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars. The Israeli cybersecurity unicorn has developed a platform that analyzes configuration, traffic, and code to identify the broadest set of API vulnerabilities. Read more
Former Microsoft engineering leaders raise $12 million to help remote employees work together. Gable’s portal allows employees to see where their coworkers are working that day and book a desk alongside them while the company can manage budgets and monitor employee satisfaction. Read more
Checkmarx CEO Benzaquen stepping down after 17 years in latest shakeup at cyber unicorn. Sandeep Johri will succeed co-founder Emmanuel Benzaquen, who led the company’s sale to private equity firm H&F at a valuation of $1.15 billion in March 2020. Read more
Nataly Kremer joins Check Point as Chief Product Officer and Head of R&D. Kremer joins the company after 12 years with AT&T, where she led its Software and Delivery organization and was the General Manager of AT&T’s R&D center in Israel. Former CPO Dr. Dorit Dor was named as Chief Technology Officer, with Rupal Hollenbeck being promoted to President. Read more
She-Inspires | “If you are not scared of your next role then you are probably overqualified for the position.” Keren Italiano, former Global Business Communities Director at Playtika, grappled with not being top of her class for a long time, but it was through realizing her fear and beating it that she has been able to conquer every hardship throughout her career with grace. Read more
Israeli startup is creating electricity by releasing hydrogen from powder. Electriq Global announced on Tuesday that it will establish a manufacturing plant in the Port of Amsterdam to turn hydrogen gas into powder – from which electricity can then be produced using a special dehydrogenation system developed by the company. Read more
Report: 88% of companies have experienced cyberattacks in the last two years. A report by Pentera has investigated the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures and the impact of the global economic crisis on cyber protection budgets around the world. Read more
“As soon as there is an introduction of new technologies, there are also new cyber threats.” Demi Ben-Ari, co-founder and CTO of Panorays, was speaking in a panel he moderated at Calcalist’s developer conference. According to data presented by Talya Gazit, CEO at PwC Digital Technology Services, a cyber attack costs organizations an average of $4.5 million. Read more
“ChatGPT will bring with it a wave of creativity and innovation.” Dorit Dor, Chief Product Officer at Check Point, who was speaking at Calcalist’s developer conference, also warned that ChatGPT may become a tool for cyber attackers: “It makes the attack dimension accessible to many more people in a simple way.” Read more
Cloud security startup Wiz hits $10 billion valuation with $300 million Series D. The Israeli startup said that it will not hold any of the funds in Israel due to the impending judicial coup. Read more
Exit strategy? 90% of entrepreneurs: If we start a company today, it will be outside of Israel. Around 80% of the large companies (companies that employ more than 100 people) admitted to having discussed the option of Corporate Inversion. Read more
She-VC | “Women need successful mentors and successful women need to pass it forward.” Calanit Valfer, Managing Partner at Elah Fund, firmly believes in doing good and shares her road to success which was paved through her mentors. Read more
Cyren enters insolvency after laying off entire workforce. The company’s accumulated deficit as of September 2022 reached approximately $296 million. Until recently, the Israeli parent company employed 49 people, but at the beginning of the month most of the employees were laid off. Read more
Aura Air loses almost 90% of its value, gets acquired by competitor Molekule. The Israeli air filtration company was purchased by its U.S. competitor in an all-stock deal valuing it at around just $8 million. Read more
“There is currently much more interesting innovation than what happened in the last few years.” Liran Zelkha of Lili, Ilan Atias of Melio, and Tal Gispan of Guesty, talked about ways in which the high-tech slowdown affects the development field. Read more
“It’s our job as technologists to improve and make AI better.” “Thanks to AI, it will be easier to find the information that needs to be acted upon,” added Itay Dressler, CTO of theGist, speaking on a panel at the “Developers at the Front” conference together with Shir Chorev, CTO at Deepchecks, and Michael Braginsky, co-founder and CTO at Aidoc. Read more
