CTECH – Latest Israeli Innovation & Technology News Nov. 2, 2022
Equitybee lays off 20% of workforce, stinging employees. The startup connects employees in high-tech companies who want to exercise their options and qualified investors who want to purchase shares of private companies before they become public. Read more
Israel’s Vintage raises $631 million for fund-of funds. The investment firm, which invests across the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Israel, took its total capital under management to $3.6 billion. Read more
Playtika CSO: “We are looking to acquire companies in distress.” Playtika Chief Strategy Officer, Eric Rapps, talks about the gaming company’s investment strategy, what it sees in blockchain technology, and why its staff reflects the Israeli high-tech industry as a whole. Read more
From meat manufactured from tobacco to natural egg substitutes: FoodTech competition final all set. The six startups to have reached the final of Tnuva and Calcalist’s competition include BioBetter, Eggmented Reality, E-FISHient Protein, Exosomm, Meala Foodtech, and Watersight. Read more
Boarding Pass | The startup helping couples with their relationship challenges. Israeli startup Ritual has raised $2 million to help fill the gap left by a lack of therapists in the U.S. Read more
Arrow ballistic missile shield deal with Europe to hit record 3 billion euros. The deal between Israel Aerospace Industries and 15 European countries is awaiting final approval from the Americans. Should it be approved as expected, it would become Israel’s largest-ever arms export deal. Read more
Opinion | Taking a TikTok journey straight to the Lions’ Den. I tell this story not as a warning of the dangers of TikTok or social media, nor to promote content moderation on these platforms. Rather, I tell this story as a warning about the type of world we now live in. Read more
Israeli cyber startups to watch out for in 2023. As part of Calcalist and KPMG’s “The Next Big Thing” project, prominent investors in the Israeli market ranked the most innovative cybersecurity companies in the country with the greatest business potential. Read more
Sepio raises $22 million Series B for hardware asset risk management platform. The Israeli company’s platform is based on device existence, offering customers actionable visibility, policy enforcement, and mitigation capabilities. Read more
Poland wooing Israeli high-tech with promise of EU market. Government schemes are encouraging Startup Nation to look at the country for affordable talent and access to the trading bloc. Read more
The Seagate dictate: A data field of sustainable dreams. In a far-reaching interview during her maiden visit to Israel, Joan Motsinger, Seagate’s Senior VP of Sustainability & Transformation talks tech, the environment, and what makes a winning ‘innovator’. Read more
Downrounds are on the rise as high-tech crisis deepens. In the first half of 2022, only 90% of the startups raised investments at a value higher than their previous round, compared to 96% in 2021. Read more
Two days before elections, security breach in Shas database exposes personal details of millions of Israeli citizens. The breach gave potential attackers access to all the information stored in the system including personal data. Shas: “As soon as we were informed of the breach we implemented a number of immediate changes, so all information will be kept in a very secure manner.” Read more
ICI Fund closes its second $50 million fund for Israeli early-stage companies. The American-based VC has been investing in Israel since 2018 and supporting their growth in the US market. Read more
Opinion | A tale of of two unicorns: The princess perspective. Customer satisfaction is not a buzzword like AI or the Metaverse. But it is a very real thing, and if our unicorns don’t learn to respect their riders they will soon go to slaughter. Read more
OpenWeb raises $170 million Series F at $1.5 billion valuation. The Israeli startup, which has developed a community engagement platform for a healthier open web, increased its valuation despite the crisis in tech. Read more
Palo Alto CEO: “We will be the first $100 billion cyber company.” An exclusive interview with Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, who in his last three positions—starting at Google, moving on to SoftBank, and ending in Palo Alto— became the most highly compensated executive on Wall Street. Read more
Gil Shwed: “Check Point stock is fantastic. Nasdaq has fallen 30% but we’ve remained stable.” The Israeli cybersecurity company recorded revenue of $578 million in the third quarter, an 8% increase year over year. “There is no share in Israeli history that has provided the same performance as Check Point over the years,” added Shwed. Read more
Selina shares surge over 300% on first day on Wall Street. The Israeli-founded hospitality company began trading on Thursday after completing a merger with SPAC BOA at a $1.2 billion valuation. Read more
HP lays off 60 employees in Israel. Following the layoffs, most of HP’s activity in Israel will be concentrated under Indigo, which HP acquired in 2001. Read more
Mapping the pioneering Israeli Generative AI startups. The Generative AI wave is here and Remagine Ventures Managing Partner Eze Vidra helps break down the local startups already making noise in the budding space. Read more
Navina raises $22 million Series B to transform primary care. The Israeli startup uses medically-informed AI to provide primary care physicians with the right information at the right time. Read more
CTech’s Book Review: A manifesto for a better world. Noa Eshed, Co-Host of the Real Life Superpowers Podcast, shares insights after reading “Imagine if… Creating A Future For Us All” by Sir Ken Robinson. Read more
Israeli companies and global giants join forces to “reach net zero.” The mission was announced by The Movement by Good Company together with AB InBev, Continental, Ashtrom, Bridges Israel, SAP, KPMG, BCLP, and LeumiTech. Read more
Trigo raises $100 million for frictionless grocery retail platform. The Israeli startup transforms existing supermarkets into fully autonomous digital stores where feeds from ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors are analyzed to generate a “digital twin” of the store. Read more
Mobileye shares surge on opening day on Nasdaq, valuation crosses $20 billion. Shares of Intel’s Israeli self-driving car unit rose by as much as 36% on Wednesday before falling back slightly. Read more
Cyber unicorn Cybereason sacks 200 employees, 17% of workforce. This is the second round of layoffs at the company, which parted ways with around 100 employees in June. Read more
High-tech layoffs: “We are in the midst of a wave, and the end is nowhere in sight.” Under pressure from investors, Israeli companies are preparing for a very long winter: “We must prepare for three years without investments in high-tech.” Read more
Square Peg to invest a third of new $550 million fund in Israeli startups. The Australian venture capital firm’s fifth fund includes $350 million for early-stage investments and $200 million for later-stage investments. Read more
TPV Founder Daniel Loeb: “The madness will not return. Everyone’s expectations today are more reasonable.” From Disneyland to the Holy Land: In an in depth interview, the legendary Third Point CEO and founder talks investments, Israel, and taking on Disney. Read more
Moneta Venture Capital raises $120 million for new fintech and insurtech fund. The fund has invested in over 30 ventures to date, including: Railsbank, Panorays, TipRanks, Insurify, Rewire, Atidot and Human API. Read more
Cybersecurity startup Valence announces $25 million Series A for security remediation platform. The company’s collaborative remediation workflows engage with business users to contextualize and reduce SaaS data sharing, supply chain, identity, and misconfiguration risks with scalable policy enforcement and automated workflows. Read more
BRIA partners with Getty Images to ‘transform’ visual content with Generative AI. Generative AI refers to unsupervised machine learning algorithms that help computers use existing content to create new artifacts. Read more
Forsea swims into $5.2 million for its cultivated seafood. The startup’s technology helps make cultivated eel meat to address the destruction of marine life due to overfishing. Read more
Arnica raises $7 million to secure software supply chains. The Israeli-founded startup’s platform uses machine learning and graph-based behavioral analysis to protect against supply chain attacks without harming developer velocity. Read more
CTech’s Book Review: Understanding the four behavior patterns. Barak Shachnovitz, CCO at Peech, shares insights after reading “Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)” by Thomas Erikson. Read more
Full list of Israeli high-tech layoffs in 2022. The financial crisis is taking its toll on Israeli high-tech, with numerous companies parting ways with significant portions of their workforce. Read more
Fintech unicorn Fundbox fires 40% of workforce. The Israeli-founded company is laying off 150 of its 360 employees, half in Israel and half in the U.S. “We grew our team too fast, and we need to course correct,” said CEO Prashant Fuloria. Read more
Vee continues cutbacks, laying off 50% of remaining employees. After parting ways with 30% of the team in July, the volunteering platform is cutting its workforce again and will remain with just 17 employees. Read more
Fintech startup Vesttoo raises $80 million at $1 billion valuation. The Israeli startup, which has developed a platform that facilitates the investment of new sources of capital in the insurance market, plans to use the new funding to make acquisitions. Read more
YOOM, formerly Tetavi, raises $15 million from star-studded investor list. The Israeli startup’s volumetric technology allows the creation of photorealistic digital content and experiences for the Metaverse and Web3. Read more
Resonai raises additional $20 million for Series A to digitize the built world. The extension means that the company’s round has reached $36 million and that it has raised a total of $43 million. Read more
Ask-AI raises $9 million to become the “Google Search” of enterprise data. The Israeli startup’s platform allows managers and employees to receive answers and insights from all internal knowledge and customer communication sources. Read more
“The worst space you can learn in, is a classroom.” Avi Warshavsky, Founder and CEO of MindCET, was speaking at the EdTech week conference, which was centered around ways to shape the future of education. Read more
“There is no bigger challenge than the climate challenge, but it is also our biggest opportunity.” Speaking at “The Future is in ClimateTech” panel sponsored by Calcalist and Start-Up Nation Central, Yael Weisz Zilberman, Head of Climate-Tech at Start-Up Nation Central, emphasized the potential, opportunities and performance of Israel in the field and noted that there is more to be done. Read more
Opinion | AI did not generate this title. “I am usually one for celebrating exciting technology breakthroughs and accepting the inevitable changes, as uncomfortable as they may be, but deep in my gut, this Generative Tech talk makes me uneasy,” writes Yaffa Abadi of F2 Venture Capital. Read more
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